


Coincidence?

by Weirddemiwood



Category: The Hobbit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 06:19:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 24,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18565660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weirddemiwood/pseuds/Weirddemiwood
Summary: The first four chapters are pretty old and while I've edited them for grammatical errors, I won't be changing the writing itself because I like to see how my writing improved over time but as they are in my eyes not very good, I will be uploading them at the same time together with the first of the new ones.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first four chapters are pretty old and while I've edited them for grammatical errors, I won't be changing the writing itself because I like to see how my writing improved over time but as they are in my eyes not very good, I will be uploading them at the same time together with the first of the new ones.

I opened my eyes and looked around. Where was I? My name...what is my name? Who am I? I looked down at me. My clothes were dirty but still comfortable.

I tried to stand up, my legs were shaky. Probably I had laid on the ground a long time. Then I looked around.

Everywhere where trees and it was beginning to get dark. I stepped forward. Step. After. Step. Then I saw a cave and walked to it. It smelled horrible. But that was not the worst.

Three  _somethings_ where laying in the cave. That was the source of the awful smell and... they were  _breathing._

By now it was dark outside and these things began moving. Then I heard a voice "Bill, I am hungry" it said. Quickly I hid.

"Be quiet Tom, I'll start cooking soon" With that two of the tree giant things stood up. And I'm not joking if I say that they were ugly. They had flat faces and a lot of scars everywhere. They seemed pretty blind too because they couldn't see me.

"Bert!" One of them said and kicked the one who was still on the floor. The tree stood up and left the cage. I was pretty tired but if I slept here they could come back and kill me.

So I decided to follow them. "Mutton yesterday, Mutton today and blame me if it don't look like Mutton again tomorrow." One of them said. "Shut your mouth," the third one said, he had made a fire and was stirring in a boiler. "You can't expect folk to stop here just to be eaten by you and Bert."

"This is no Mutton, ponies!" The third one said, he was gone a few minutes and now he came back with two horses under his arms. Horses? These horses even had saddles! I didn't know my name or who I am but I'm pretty sure horses don't run around with saddles.  _Unless._  Unless there was somebody with the horses.

The big thing, Bert sneezed into the boiler and I looked away disgusted. When I looked back they had somebody in their hands. "What are you?" Bert asked. "Bilbo Baggins, a bur- a hobbit," the small figure said.

Bill, Tom, and Bert looked at each other, then back at this  _Hobbit_. "What's a burrahobbit?" Bill asked. "And can you cook them?" Tom asked.  
"You can try," Bert said and picked up a spike.

"He wouldn't make a mouthful," William said. "Perhaps there are more burrahobbits around and we could make a Pie" Bert answered him.

"Are there more of you around?" The Hobbit was asked. "Yes lots" he answered but corrected himself quickly "No none at all, not one"

The Trolls started discussing whether too let him go or cook him, then they started calling each other names till one, I think it was Bert put his fist in William's eye. They quickly started fighting with each other and without really noticing it they let the Hobbit go, which fell on the floor.

I don't know why but the Hobbit didn't move, probably his fall was too hard. Just then a little man with a long white beard and white hair came running.

Then more men Appeared. All twelve men where fighting but they where soon all stuck in sacks, then one last one approached "Who has been knocking my people out?" He asked.

"It's trolls" the Hobbit answered from out of his sack. Just then the last men also got stuffed in a sack. I sneaked around the place near the men.

The Trolls were discussing how they should cook them. "I say we sit on them, then make a Pie" one said. "No, we shall roast them," another said."That will take the whole night, I don't want to become stone"

"Who are you?" One of the men asked. He had sawn me.  _Damn it_. The trolls looked at me and before I could run they picked me up. "I think we found something new again," one of them said. "Just put it in the sack already," another one said. With that, I was stuffed in a sack too and thrown to the men. I groaned in pain when I landed and the Men stared at me.

The Hobbit looked in the woods and it seemed that he had seen something then he began to say "You're doing it wrong". The trolls locked at him in awe "Have you ever cooked a dwarf?" They asked him.  _Wait, Dwarves?_. I looked at the men. "The secret is.....the secret.....the secret is- you have to skin them"  _Great._ "No" The Dwarves screamed and "You traitor!"

"Get something sharp," a troll said. They really wanted to skin us. One of them pickets up a fat Dwarf with red hair and a long red beard.

"I wouldn't eat that one" the Hobbit interrupted "He.. has worms" the troll immediately dropped the dwarf. "They all have worms" the Hobbit added.

The dwarves started denying it screaming things like "I don't have worms", "how could you?", "Traitor" or "You're the ones with worms".

One of the Dwarves kept silent, it was the one who was captured at the end. He kicked one of the other Dwarves. The Dwarf he kicked, a brown-haired man who seemed younger than the others, looked to the one who kicked him. They all shut up.

Then they started pricing their 'worms'. "I have worms" "My worms are as big as arms" was heard. The trolls started arguing again.

"Dawn take you all, and be stone to you!" A loud voice said. I looked at its source and saw a tall man with an awkward hat. More strange was that he had a staff with him, which he slammed into a big rock. The rock split in two.

As the sunbeams of the rising sun hit the trolls, they all turned into stone.

 


	2. Chapter 2

~Kili's POV~  
After Gandalf had split the rock into two and the trolls turned to stone we could finally get out of the sacks. By 'we' I mean: Thorin, Dori, Nori, Ori,  Balin, Dwalin, my brother Fili, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins and the woman which I met here.

We were not at all amused, it hadn't been very nice to lay in sacks on the ground and hearing trolls bickering about how they should cook us. My back was also pretty sore from Thorin's kick, but it wouldn't last long, I've been through worse.

"It was stupid of you sending him here alone," Thorin said to me and my brother. We were supposed to watch the horses when we realized that a few where missing.

"Anyhow, you are wasting time now. Don't you realize that the trolls must have a cave or a hole dug somewhere near to hide from the sun in?" Gandalf said to us. The woman cleared her throat "actually it's a cave, it's not far from here. I can show it to you"

"And you are?" Thorin asked. She opened her mouth to say something then she looked confused. "I don't know," she said. "What do you mean, you don't know?" I asked her. "It means I don't know who I am" she answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

Thorin looked and Gandalf who lit his magic staff thing and held it in front of her face. She looked at it then Gandalf said, "She's telling the truth".

We all turned around to discuss what to do. "We could take her with us," Dori said. "What if she is dangerous" Nori commented. "She's one woman we are 13 Dwarves" Dwalin answered. We looked at Thorin. "Maybe she could be useful" he answered.

We turned around again "Do you want to come with us?" Balin asked her. She nodded. "Can you fight?" I asked her. She looked as if she tried to remember. "I don't know," she said slowly. I looked at her challenging "try it"

She tried punching in my face but I caught her fist. She pulled it so I had to step more to her, then she pulled up her knee in my stomach. I let go of her hand and tried to hit her in the ribs, so she would be distracted and I could push her to the ground. She used the hit on her side to draw her foot under my feet and with a swoosh, I was on the floor with her on top of me.

She quickly stood up and held a hand out to help me up. My brother laughed. I send him a glare and stood up myself. "That's a start I said" and before anyone could say something else Gandalf asked her to show us the cave. She nodded and we started walking.

She brought us to a big cave. The smell was awful and there where some cobwebs. There were bones on the floor but on shelves on the walls there was some food. And the floor was also littered with all sorts of plunder, from buttons to pots filled with gold coins standing in a corner. There where even clothes, with swords from various makes, shapes, and sizes from previous owners.

Two swords caught their eyes, particularly because of their beautiful scabbards and hilts. Thorin and Gandalf each took one. "These look like good blades," the Wizard said, half drawing the swords "These were not made by trolls, nor by any Smith among men, but when we can read the runes on them we could find out more about them"

"Let's get out of this Horrible smell," said Fili and we brought the food out along with some gold. Gandalf picked up a knife in a leather sheath and gave it to Bilbo, it was probably only a pocket knife but for a Hobbit, it was a sword. I also saw how the woman, from who we still didn't know the name picked up a dagger in a leather scabbard and tied it around her hip.

We buried the pots of gold just in case we would ever have the chance to come back and get them.

Thorin and Gandalf were talking about why Gandalf left when Thorin's voice got louder "I will not ask elves for help" he said loudly. Then he got silence again and I couldn't hear him anymore.

We walked some time and then settled down to sleep because we hadn't got much last night.

"How should we call you," the Hobbit asked the woman. "I don't know" she answered. "How about Erlanda? It means the stranger" Balin asked her. She nodded.

I took guard and the others slept. Well, I thought that the others slept. Till something poked my arm. I looked to Erlanda "What's wrong?" She just shrugged and sat down next to me. "You don't talk much do you? You only say I don't know" I asked her. She shrugged again "That's because I don't remember much, not even my name," she told me. I asked, "What do you know?" "Well now I know you are Dwarves, Bilbo is a Hobbit and Gandalf is a Wizard. I also almost got eaten by Trolls." She said and chuckled at the last part.

We talked a bit more about Gandalf and his strange habits, how Bilbo invited us into his house and how we had made bets if he would come with us. Well, I told her things and she listed most of the time.

After a while, Bofur came to take guard and I went to my brother to sleep next to him while Erlanda just kept sitting and then listened to Bofur's stories.


	3. Chapter 3

~Erlanda's POV~  
I hadn't slept a lot that night after I listened to Bofur's stories I had fallen asleep next to him but as he changed the place with another dwarf, whose name I didn't quite remember, I woke up again. We didn't talk much, he told me a little bit about his wife and his son, after that I slept again but soon the sun started setting and we had to move on.

We moved on, camped under the stars and our food got less. After a few days, there was not much in our bags anymore. In fact, the horses had more than us. We also had one horse too little because I came unexpectedly. So I had to hop on with the Dwarves always changing horse the next day so they weren't too annoyed by me.

One Morning, when I was riding behind the Dwarf with the long white beard we came to a river. The far bank was deep and slippery. When we made it to the top we saw huge mountains, they only looked a day's ride away.

I saw how the eyes of the Hobbit grew big "Is that  _the_  Mountain?" He asked. "Of course not," the Dwarf in front of me said." That is only the beginning of the Misty Mountains, and we have to get threw or over or under those somehow before we can come into Wilderland beyond. And it will be a rough way to the Lonely Mountain, where Smaug lies on our treasure"  _Smaug? Treasure?_ Had I missed something? "Oh!" Was everything Bilbo said.

Gandalf now led the way and explained something about sticking to the road. I cleaned my throat "Uhm ..." "Balin," the Dwarf in front of me said "OK, Balin, what is a Smaug? And why does it lie on your treasure?" I asked him in a whisper voice. Apparently not quite enough because Thorin now said: "That is none of your concern" with a stern voice. Okay, grumpy Dwarf doesn't like me.

While our little conversation, Gandalf had also explained that he send a message to some  _elves?_ and that we were heading to a place called Rivendell.

We had ridden all Morning over a boring landscape, there was a lot of grass and some big rocks, that was all. The morning passed, afternoon came and we stopped abruptly. I looked past Balin and saw that we were right at the edge of a steep valley.

Down there was a big river passing and there where trees and birds and everything that fits in a fairy tale. Only one problem: it was very steep and when I say very I  _mean_  very. The only way to get down was a little part marked with white stones.

It took us very long to bring our ponies down the path, even the Wizard had problems. When we finally made it down the day began to fall. Gandalf lifted his arms "Here it is at last" he called.

We could hear Voice and the water streaming. Then we heard a song:

_O! What are you doing,_   
_And where are you going?_   
_Your ponies need shoeing!_   
_The river is flowing!_   
_O!_ _Tra_ _-la-la-_ _lally_   
_Here down the valley!_

_O! What are you seeking,_   
_And where are you making?_   
_The faggots are reeking,_   
_The bannocks are baking!_   
_O!_ _Tril_ _-lil-lil-lolly_   
_The valley is jolly,_   
_Ha! Ha!_

_O! Where are you going_   
_With beards all a-wagging?_   
_No knowing, no knowing_   
_What brings Mister Baggins,_   
_And Balin and Dwalin_   
_Down into the Valley_   
_In June_   
_Ha! Ha!_

_O! Will you be staying,_   
_Or will you be flying?_   
_Your ponies are straying!_   
_The Daylight is dying!_   
_To fly would be folly,_   
_To stay would be jolly_   
_And listen and hark,_   
_Till the end of the Dark,_   
_To our tune_   
_Ha! Ha!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course, don't speak Sindarin, I use translators. If someone notices mistakes, please comment.

~Erlanda's POV~   
I chuckled at the funny song I heard just to get a strange look from the Dwarves. "Uh... don't you find the song silly too?" I asked them. Was that maybe a tradition and I had just made fun of it? "You understand what they are singing?" Kili asked.

"Yes, of cour- wait, you don't?" This was getting strange now. The Dwarves just shook their heads. "What did they sing?" Fili asked curiously. I was just about to answer when a tall man with long brown hair came out of the trees and Bowed to Gandalf and to Thorin

~Fili's POV~

"Welcome to the Valley," The elf said. " _Mithrandir_ _,_ _Mellonamin_...And you must be Thorin" he said to both of them. "How do you know my name elf?" My uncle asked. "You look much like your Father" he answered.

 _"Galad i naur a tul- i miruvor, mín must bui- mín gues"_  the elf then announced. "Was that a threat?" Gloin asked lifting his ax. Erlanda chuckled. I looked at her confused and she whispered "He said 'Light the fire and bring the wine, we must serve our guests'" I laughed.

"He just invited us to supper," Gandalf said, now also laughing. We turned around to discuss. "I guess we can accept that" Gloin answered the elf.

~Erlanda's POV~  
We sat at the table and the dwarves looked at the food in disbelief "Don't they have some meat?" Gloin asked "I don't like green food" Ori stated, holding up some lettuce.

I chuckled but I have to admit that I didn't like their food either. Maybe I liked this 'Rabbit Food', how Dwalin called it, before my memory loss, but travelling with the Dwarves, who preferred meat, I had started to be accustomed to the taste of it.

 _"What is her name?"_  Sir Elrond, how I now knew the elf was called, said to Gandalf. I shrugged and he looked at me interested  _"You speak Sindarin?"_  He asked me and I looked confused  _"What is Sindarin?"_  I asked. Not knowing that I actually spoke it.

Elrond chuckled  _"The language you are speaking"_  "Could you please talk in a way, we all understand?" Gloin asked grumpily. I was confused. Had I really spoken another language?

"So, what's your Name now?" Sir Elrond asked again. I shrugged and Kili said, "We call her Erlanda" " _You_ call her that? So, you don't know her name?" The elf asked curiously. "No, we don't" I answered and told him how I woke up in the forest and that I found the company during a 'little fiasco' with trolls, without going into details.

Kili winked at a She-elf who was playing an instrument but as he saw how Dwalin than looked at him he said something about to high cheekbones and cream skin. "Although some look quite good," he said looking at another elf. " _That_  is not an elf maiden," Dwalin said and we all laughed while Kili blushed.

Thorin and Gandalf showed Sir Elrond the swords we found in the troll cave to see if maybe he could read the runes on them. "This, Thorin, the runes name 'Orcrist', the 'Goblin-cleaver' in the ancient tongue of Gondolin, it was a famous blade, forged by the elves in the West, my kin. This, Gandalf, was 'Glamdring', the 'Foe-hammer' that the king of Gondolin once wore. Keep them safe!" He said to us.

"I wonder when the trolls got them," Thorin said with new interest. "I do not know," Elrond said.

Some Dwarves stood up and went to a moon-stone-thing to look at some secret runes on a map that Thorin seemed to carry with him.

Of course, I wasn't invited, so I stayed behind with Kili and Fili. They didn't seem too pleased. "Sorry" I mumbled. "For what?" asked Fili. "That you can't go see the map," I said but Kili responded "That's not your fault"

I smiled at them and we heard an elf say  _"Whui na- i norn hi? Hain wil glenn- a ú- medi- mín aes. Hain na- onlui pher-adan plural edain. "_  "What did they say?" Kili asked as I looked angrily at the elf "They don't like you" I answered. He just nodded.

Later the other Dwarves came back with the Hobbit and the wizard. They said something about a 'Durin's day' and some rocks. After that, we laid to sleep but before I fell asleep I could hear Thorin whisper to Kili and Fili "Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's day will shine upon the key-hole"

The next morning was a beautiful day, the sky was bright and blue and shined on the water. We rode away while Bofur, Nori, and Bifur sang songs. We were stocked up with food again (even if it was rabbit food) and we had new hope to find adventures and travel to our destination which seemed to be a big mountain far away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be the first new one and it will be in third POV, as will all following chapters.


	5. Chapter 5

There were a lot of paths over and under the mountains and Erlanda hoped they were taking the right one but she figured that the Dwarves must know what they were doing.

They were climbing up the Mountains for days, always further up. She could see the lands they had left behind them, there was no civilization here anymore. She wondered if she had a home somewhere in the land they had left behind. Surely she couldn't just have appeared. No, she must have come from somewhere.

The nights were spent silently, nobody wanted to talk too loud and disturb the silence that seemed to want to remain silent. Erlanda felt something coming up, it was like a faint smell in the air.

The woman was proven right a few nights later. The group was climbing along tall walls and Erlanda tried not to think too much about the slim path she was walking on or the steep cliff beside her. She pressed herself to the wall as much as she could. The harsh rain wasn't making anything easier for her, as it was already dark and hard to see the path beneath her, which was now also slippery.

As the Hobbit took a step to close to the edge, Erlanda and the Dwarf named Dwalin quickly helped him study himself, so he would not tumble down.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin's usually booming voice was hard to understand in the rain and the upcoming thunderstorm.

"Look out!" someone behind Erlanda yelled. The group saw a huge bolder heading towards the stone wall above them. Stones came crashing down, only narrowly missing the Company who pressed their bodies against the hard rock wall and held on to each other.

Balin looked up at the sky and his surroundings, "This is no Thunderstorm. It's a thunder-battle! Look!" he pointed in front of him and really, though the rains they could see two giant stone figures fighting against each other.

"Well, bless me beard." A Dwarf, Bofur to be exact, said. "The legends are true. Giants! Stone Giants!" The Dwarves watched in fascination as another boulder was thrown, not far from where they were standing.

Erlanda couldn't see what was so fascinating at soon death and Thorin seemed to agree as he yelled, "Take cover, you fools!"

They quickly pressed themselves against the wall again as more boulders fell down from the wall in front of them, some destroying parts of their already slim path. "Hold on!" somebody yelled as the ground beneath their feet seemed to move.

Suddenly their path was split in two, separating the company in two halves. They looked up and saw a head and two arms forming above. They had been walking on the knees of a stone giant! If Erlanda had known any gods, now would be the moment she would have prayed to them as she saw no way in which they could survive this.

The giant on which they had been standing stood up and was immediately head-butted by another and pushed against another wall. The knee on which Erlanda stood, hit the wall where the path continued and as Thorin began yelling to them, they quickly started running across the slippery giant-knee to the path that was just as slippery.

This half of the company was now safe. Well, they could still fall to their deaths or get hit by stone boulders, or both, but at least they were on the steady ground now which could not be said about the other half of the company who were still clinging onto the rocks of the giant for dear life.

The fight between the Stonne Giants continued and one punched another one's head. A boulder was thrown at a giant, whose head fell of and hit the wall above Erlanda's part of the company. As the Giant on which the other half was stumbled over, its knee came closer to them.

"Jump!" A Dwarf next to her yelled but they couldn't see what the other half of their group did, as the knee hit the wall beside them.

"No!" Thorin yelled as the knee came back without the other dwarves and the Hobbit on it. "No! Kili!" she could hear Fili calling out for his brother.

They ran to the place were their friends had crashed only to see them all tossed above each other but very much alive.

"It's alright! They're alive"

Erlanda felt relieved. Although she hadn't known these people for half as long as they knew each other, she had started to care for them. Maybe it was because they were the first people Erlanda met after her memory loss. They had given her a name and although Thorin didn't seem to trust her, the others seemed to care for as much as she did for them.

"Where's Bilbo?" Bofur asked suddenly, "Where's the Hobbit?" 

Erlanda looked around and as she heard groaning, she widened her eyes in shock of seeing the halfling hanging from the cliff below them. Erlanda quickly reached down but couldn't quite reach him. She was taller than the Dwarves, so her arms reached further than theirs and it seemed only logical for her to get their friend.

She turned around and started climbing down. "What are you doing?" Thorin asked her. Without looking up Erlanda replied, "Helping Bilbo."

She climbed further down until she could reach the Hobbit, who was only dangling on one hand. Reaching out she said: "Grab my hand." 

Bilbo tried grabbing her outstretched hand but it was to wet to get a firm hold on so Erlanda climbed further down and held Bilbo by his rucksack. Above, she could see the dwarves reaching out and as she locked eyes with Thorin, he knew what she was about to do.

She swung her arm up with so much force that it was clear she could not be human and the Hobbit yelped as he flew up enough for Thorin to hold on to him and heave him up.

Erlanda sighed, happy that it worked and made her way up again. As she was almost there one of her hands slipped and she cut herself on a sharp edge but luckily Dwalin caught her arm and hoisted her up before she could fall.

"Thank You." Erlanda nodded at the Dwarf. She was slightly out of breath. The dwarves calmed down a bit again and one commented, "I thought we lost our burglar."

Thorin looked at the Hobbit, who was still panting, "He's been lost ever since he left home."


	6. Chapter 6

The group walked ahead and found a cave where they could stay. "Looks safe enough." Thorin commented, "Search in the back, caves in the mountains are seldom unoccupied."

Dwalin held up a light and went looking. "There's nothing here," he told Thorin as he came back.

"Right, then." Gloin threw pieces of wood onto the cave floor and rubbed his hands, "Let's get a fire started."

"No. No fires. Not in this place." Thorin walked through the cave with his sword in hand, "Get some sleep. We start at first light."

As Thorin began to talk with Balin, Erlanda made herself comfortable on the cave floor. Well, as comfortable as one could be on the hard stone floor. The coldness was seeping through the blanket she had covered herself with. 

She shivered but managed to fall asleep after a long while until a shout woke her. "Wake up!" Thorin yelled, "Wake up!"

Before she could fully stand, the ground under her opened up, making her fall down with a surprised yelp. She harshly landed on a Dwarf as they fell onto a stone slide and slithered down along with stone and sand.

Their loud and rough sliding experience ended abruptly as they fell into a strange contraption of wood and metal. The Dwarves were groaning as they landed on top of each other and Erlanda wheezed as Gloin landed on top of her.

"Get up! Get up!" they yelled at each other as hordes of ugly, hairless creatures came running at them, weapons in hand. The Dwarves, who were largely outnumbered, tried to scramble to their feet but were quickly grabbed by bony hands. They tried to fight themselves out but more and more Goblins came crawling up the walls beneath them.

They were led over a wobbly bridge and Erlanda feared that she would lose her footing but there were too many goblins around her to make it possible to fall off the edge. They were dragged along and as the cave got brighter, lightened with blazing torches, the Goblin's around them started to make what they must consider music while hitting onto various metal objects. They began to sing or croak and shake the Company as they dragged them forwards.

_Clap! Snap! The black crack!_

_Grip, grab! Pinch, nab!_

_And down down to Goblin-town_

_You go, my lad!_

They sang as the manoeuvred the Dwarves forward to an even bigger, even uglier Goblin sitting on a throne.

_Clash, crash! Crush, smash!_

_Hammer and tongs! Knocker and gongs!_

_Pound, pound, far underground!_

_Ho, ho! my lad!_

The Company was brought closer to the giant Goblin who had now stood up and begun dancing as he sang loudly.

_Swish, smack! Whip crack!_

_Batter and beat! yammer and bleat!_

_Work, work! Nor dare to shirk,_

_While Goblins quaff, and Goblins laugh,_

_Round and round far underground_

_Below, my lad!_

The terrible song echoed off the walls as the giant Goblin pounded on the floor with a staff he was holding. They were now close enough that Erlanda could see a crown of bones atop the Goblins head, who was not only tall but also fat. His stomach almost hung to the floor and his chest looked like that of an old woman and was almost entirely covered by his chin fat that hung from his face and covered up every evidence that he may have a neck.

The Goblins that had brought the Company to him danced along with his singing, even as he poked one onto his staff and threw him through the air. He turned around once and Erlanda turned away in disgust as they could see his poorly covered rear. The Goblin finished his song and sat on what seemed to be a throne.

The Dwarves were disarmed and one Goblin took away the small dagger Erlanda had strapped around her hip. Their weapons were thrown onto the floor at the Goblin Kings feet, who stood up again and leaned down to look at them, "Who is so bold to come armed into my Kingdom?" Standing up again he asked, "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"

"Dwarves, your malevolence." one told him.

"Dwarves?" the Great Goblin's voice boomed.

The Goblin who had spoken before stepped forward. " We found them on the front porch"

The Goblin grew angry, making the fat from his chin wobble as he moved around. "What are you doing on these paths?" Nobody answered, "Speak!" The continued to be silent, "Very well, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the mangler! Bring out the bone breaker! Start with the youngest."

"Wait!" Thorin yelled, "Thorin the dwarf at your service." Erlanda knew nothing of Dwarf customs but she was sure that this was one of them as it seemed to polite to be Thorin's own words.

"Well, well, well, look who it is!" he looked at the Goblins around him, "Thorin, son of Thrain son of Thror, King under the Mountain." he made a mocking bow, the goblins around him laughing. "Oh but I forgot, you don't have a mountain and you're not a King which makes you nobody, really." there was a moment of silence before the King continued, "I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak. An old enemy of yours. A pale Orc, astride a white Warg." He leaned back again, waiting for Thorin's reaction.

"Arzog the Defiler was destroyed." The Dwarf growled. "He was slain in battle long ago!"

"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" he laughed and turned to a very small goblin sitting in a wooden contraption that hung on a long rope. "Send word to the pale Orc, tell him I have found his prize." The small thing swung away laughing.

The goblins brought out giant instruments of torture as the King started singing again.

_Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung._

_You'll be beaten and battered, from racks you'll be hung._

_You will die down here and be found,_

_down in the deep of Goblin Town!_

The Company tried to get the goblin's hands of them as they suddenly something clanked onto the wooden floor. Erlanda saw that it was Thorin's sword. The Great Goblin stopped his song and gave a howl of rage, "Murderers and elf-friends! I know that sword! It's the Goblin-cleaver!" The goblins around them broke out into chaos, trying to kill the Dwarves, who fought back bravely.

"Slash them! Beat them! Bite them! Gnash them! Take them away to holes full of snakes and never let them see light again!" Erlanda tried prying off the hands of the goblins that held her arms and she saw that a few goblins were holding down Thorin, "Cut off his head!" The Great Goblin yelled and his subjects were about to do so as an explosion of white light filled the cave, throwing the goblins through the air and away from the Company.

Erlanda looked up from where she had been thrown to the floor and saw the silhouette of a tall man, staff in one hand a sword in the other and atop his head a pointy hat. Gandalf.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

"Take up arms," the Wizard told the Company, "Fight! Fight!" The Dwarves grunted and picked up their weapons. Erlanda found her dagger again although she wasn't sure how much good it was against these hoards. Gandalf himself began slashing away at goblins and Erlanda plunged her dagger in the neck of a goblin before her. "He swings the Foe-hammer!" The Goblin King yelled.

Erlanda pulled her dagger out of the goblin's neck and went to attack another. "Erlanda!" she heard someone yell. She turned and saw Kili with two swords. The Dwarf threw one over to her and she managed to catch it although she was unsure how she did that. Nonetheless, she nodded a thank you at the Dwarf and both of them started hacking at goblins that came too close for their liking.

"Follow we. Quick!" Gandalf yelled. Erlanda quickly chopped off a goblin's head and followed the Wizard. They once again ran over a wobbly bridge and if they weren't in such danger, Erlanda would probably have stopped to complain about a missing railing.

"Quick, Quick!" Gandalf yelled. 

"Faster!" Dori yelled

The goblins around them were growling and howling as they chased after the Company. A couple of them stood in their way but Dwalin took care of them with two axes. As more goblins came running, the bald dwarf yelled, "Post!"

Nori, Fili, and Kili helped him pick up a long post and swoop the goblins off of the path in front of them. They then let go of it and started fighting with their swords and axes again. Erlanda sliced and every Goblin that came close to her as she ran after Kili.

As more goblins came swinging to them on long ropes.  Thorin yelled, "Cut the ropes!" They cut the ropes in front of them, making a wooden platform crash onto the swinging goblets. More goblins came running at them and a few started shooting arrows, which Kili deflected with his sword. Erlanda, who stood behind him and didn't trust herself enough with the sword to try that too, took a ladder that was leaning against a wall next to them and held it in front of herself and Killi.

The dwarf then nodded and with his and Bofur's help, she smashed the leader onto the goblin's heads and pushed them all over the edge in front of them. They then used the ladder as a bridge to join Gandalf on the other side.

"Come on, quickly." The Wizard said.

They continued hacking at their attackers as they made it onto another wooden platform. Quickly, two of the dwarves cut the ropes on one side which made the platform swing towards another one on the other side.

"Jump!" Thorin yelled and Bofur jumped off, followed by two others. The platform swung back and a few goblins jumped onto it. "Jump, lass." Erlanda could hear Oin say and she quickly jumped off, followed by Fili who then cut the rope that held the swinging platform up and made the goblins on it fall to their deaths.

With goblins hot on their heels, the Company continued their run out of Goblin Town, fighting off goblins on their way. "Come on!" Gandalf yelled and used his staff to let a round boulder fall off the ceiling and roll over the goblins in front of them. 

They ran around a corner and onto another wooden bridge without railings and Erlanda threw an orc out of her way before stabbing another through its stomach. The next one was fended off by chopping off its head before they continued running through a tunnel.

"Come on!" Nori yelled as they ran over wooden bridges only to be stopped as the Goblin King barged through one of the bridges and landed in front of Gandalf. "Watch your backs!" Gloin shouted as goblins came from behind them.

"You thought you could escape me?" The Great Goblin asked and then used his staff to try and hit Gandalf who quickly jumped back. "What will you do now, Wizard?" Gandalf poked him in the face and as the King held his face in pain, the Wizard sliced open his stomach. The goblin fell onto his knees and clutched his stomach, "That'll do it."

But the Wizard wasn't finished yet. He swung his sword and slit open the goblin's throat who fell down in front of them. The bridge cracked and then fell down making them all scream. 

They continued their screams as the bridge kept hitting rocks around them and falling apart. Erlanda was convinced she would die then and there but that didn't happen as their fall came to an end at the very bottom of Goblin Town. She sighed in relief and looked around to see Kili and Dwalin lying right ahead of her.

They all groaned as they tried freeing themselves from the wooden planks and Bofur commented, "Well, that could have been worse." Just at that moment, the Goblin King's body came flying down and landed on top of them, crushing them even more. "You've got to be joking!" Kili wheezed out, trying to get the weight off of him. As he managed to do do, he looked up in horror. "Gandalf!" 

Erlanda, who had just managed to free herself, looked up and saw hordes of goblins climbing down the walls towards them. "There's too many. We can't fight them." Dwalin told the Wizard as he held up Nori.

"Only one thing will save us, daylight!" The man yelled. "Come on! On your feet." he helped up Balin and turned around to run, the dwarves and Erlanda right behind him. "Quick! Quick!"

They already saw the light through an opening and Gandalf stopped to lead the running dwarves in the right direction, "Come on this way! Come on, come on. Quickly!" They ran outside and down a hill, between green pine trees. They ran and ran until they were sure that they were far away enough.

Gandal looked around, "one- that's Thorin; two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, Bifur, Bofur, that's ten; where are Kili and Fili?" he looked around them and found the two brothers talking with Erlanda, Fili had given her a sheath for the sword she had been carrying which was now hanging from her hip, "Here they are! eleven, twelve; Bombur makes thirteen and Erlanda that's fourteen. Where's Bilbo? Where is our Hobbit?" He looked around Erlanda and the dwarves, "Where is our Hobbit?" he asked again with a louder voice.

"Curse that Halfling!" Dwalin shouted out, "Now he's lost?"

"I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin said.

"Don't blame me," the dwarf in question answered.

"Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf asked.

"I think I saw him slip away as we got captured," Nori told him.

"And what happened, exactly? Tell me!"

Thorin stepped forward, "I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it. He has thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth...since he first stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone."

Kili and Fili exchanged a look and Nori looked between his comrades as if he couldn't believe it. Erlanda looked at Thorin, unsure if she should believe him as they heard another voice. 

"No. He isn't." Bilbo said.

 

**1228 Words**


	8. Chapter 8

"Bilbo Baggins," Gandalf said, "In my whole life I have never been so happy to see someone."

"Well, that must be a very long time," Erlanda muttered silently enough for only Kili and Fili to hear, who chuckled quietly but stopped as the Wizard sent them a look.

"Bilbo," Kili said, "We'd given you up." 

"How on earth did you get past the goblins?" his brother asked.

"How, indeed," Thorin asked.

Bilbo just chucked and Gandalf said, "What does it matter. He's back. I told you, Mr Baggins has more about him than you guess."

They continued their walk since it was getting darker and the goblins could smell their footsteps hours later. It was soon after that they could hear a loud howl. "What's that?" Erlanda asked.

"Wargs!" Fili yelled. "Orc pets," Kili added as they began running.

The Company ran between the trees, jumping over rocks and fallen trees as they tried to escape the Wargs. Their howls got louder and louder and Erlanda risked a look over her shoulder to see giant creatures with grey pelt and glowing green eyes running after them.

"Go!" Thorin yelled and Erlanda turned around again.

The Wargs were catching up again and as one jumped in front of her, she quickly pulled her sword. She slashed at it and managed to wound one of his legs enough for her to run past it only to be stopped by a sudden slope. 

"Up the trees quick!" Gandalf yelled. They quickly ran to the trees at the edge of the glade and climbed up as fast as they could. Fili, Kili, and Erlanda were atop a giant larch. Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, and Gloin had climbed onto a pine while Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Thorin were in another. The brothers Dwalin and Balin had climbed onto a fir that only had a small number of branches and Gandalf had found a giant pine at the very edge of the glade.

Bilbo, however, had not managed to climb on a tree and was running around, trying to find a place to hide.

"You left the burglar behind again!" Nori accused one of his brothers. "I can't be carrying burglars around on by all day now can I?"

"He'll be eaten if we don't do something," Thorin said. "Dori!" he called, "Be quick and give Mr Baggins a hand up!"

Dori leaned down and Bilbo tried to take his hand but he was too small to reach it so Dori climbed down, helped Bilbo up and then climbed up himself again, just in time to escape a Wark that had lunged for him.

The Wargs had now surrounded them and on some of them were Orcs. One Orc, in particular, caught Erlanda's attention as it was white and a lot bigger than the others. "That's Azog," Fili told her. "I thought he was dead." Kili turned to his brother. "Do you know any other tall pale Orcs with a missing hand?" the blond argued. "Be quiet," Erlanda told the two.

The pale Orc said something that Erlanda couldn't understand but by the look on Thorin's face, he could. "It cannot be." the dwarf king said. The pale Orc pointed at Thorin with his weapon, said something and then swung it above his head while yelling something else.

The Wargs started running towards them and jumping up the trees making the Dwarves (and Erlanda, Bilbo, and Gandalf) climb up the trees even further. The tree Erlanda was on shook as two Wargs began jumping on it and she and the two brothers clung to the branches, trying not to fall off.

As the Wargs managed to make it fall over, Kili, Fili, and Erlanda quickly climbed onto the next one where Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, and Gloin were sitting on and as that fell they climbed onto the one after that. Soon, the entire Company sat on the branches of a big pine tree at the very edge. It was the one Gandalf had climbed onto. The pale Orc laughed and Erlanda looked at the other side of the tree where it went down deep enough to make it a deadly fall.  _Out of the frying pan, into the fire_ , she thought to herself. 

Suddenly the ground beneath them was on fire, keeping the Wargs away from their tree. She looked up to see Gandalf lighting two pine cones on fire. "Fili!" he called out and let a burning pine cone fall into the hands of the dwarf who threw it from one hand to the other. Gandalf threw one to Dori who used it to lighten a pine cone that Bilbo had gathered on fire. Erlanda grabbed her own from a branch above her and Fili, who was next to her, helped her enlighten it.

Soon, they all started throwing burning pine cones at the orcs and their wargs, lightening the ground beneath them (and a few wargs) on fire. As Azog let out an angry howl the dwarves started cheering and laughing but the laughter soon stopped as the tree began to fall. It luckily stopped but now the tree was hanging dangerously above the scarp.

Ori suddenly slipped and fell right past Erlanda, who wasn't quick enough to catch him but he luckily managed to hold on to Dori's foot. Dori was now desperately clinging onto a branch, trying not to fall of himself while his brother still tangled at his foot. "Mr Gandalf!" the dwarf called out for the Wizard just before he slipped off of the branch. Gandalf quickly reached down his staff and Dori managed to hold on to it. The Wizard tried to pull the two dwarves up but was distracted as he saw Thorin walk towards Azog.

The Dwarf King walked through the burning branches of the tree, a sword in one hand and a thick branch, that he was using as a shield, in the other.

The pale orc seemed almost happy at the sight of Thorin running towards him and readied himself on his warg, ready to jump.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

Azog and his white Warg jumped over Thorin, knocking him down in the process.

"Help!" Erlanda's attention was moved from Thorin, who was still lying on his back, to Dori. The dwarf with the grey hair was barely able to hold on to Gandalf's staff and the Wizard had difficulties holding up the dwarf who still had his brother dangling from his foot.

As Thorin let out a loud scream, Erlanda turned to him again, only to see Bilbo making his way to the King who was now between the sharp teeth of the white warg. "Thorin! No!" Dwalin yelled and tried to make his way to his brother in arms but the branch on which he was leaning snapped and made the Dwarf fall. Luckily, the branch hadn't snapped entirely and Dwalin was still hanging onto a small piece of wood.

Thorin continued to scream in agony, his eyes closed and face scrunched up in pain as the warg chewed on him but he managed to get his sword arm free and swung the blade down onto the wargs head. The Warg shook his head and let Thorin go who flew against a rock and didn't stand up again.

The pale orc said something to another who quickly got off his warg and pulled his weapon. He walked towards Thorin who was too wounded to stand up and went to cut off his head but Bilbo jumped at him, making him stumble and fall to the ground.

The Orc tried to reach up and get the Hobbit off of him but Bilbo quickly plunged his sword into the Orc's chest, killing him. He stood up and walked in front of Thorin, his swords raised before Azog. He began slashing in front of him as three wargs with their riders came walking towards him but he didn't step away from Thorin.

Erlanda saw how Kili and Fili started to climb toward their uncle and started to follow them. As soon as they arrived land, along with Dwalin, they pulled their weapons and ran towards the wargs, getting them away from Bilbo and Thorin. Erlanda slashed her sword against the muzzle of the warg in front of her and the wolf-like creature shook his head to the other side, which gave the orc on it's back the perfect opportunity to slash at her.

She blocked the orc's blow and then ducked as it tried again. She was now at the warg's rear and stabbed it in the side. It howled in pain and went to turn around but was abruptly lifted off its feet and thrown over the edge by a giant eagle.

Erlanda watched as the Eagles started to pick up wargs and orcs and toss them over the edge. Soon, one of them gently picked up Thorin and another picked up the Hobbit before letting him fall. Erlanda's eyes widened and she ran to the edge only to see that Bilbo had safely landed on the back of one of the eagles.

Her relief didn't last long as she was picked up herself and thrown onto the back of another eagle. She landed behind another dwarf who tuned out to be Gloin and held onto the bird as good as she could.

They flew the whole night until the Eagles put them down onto a large rock. Erlanda was happy to have ground under her again. While she wasn't afraid of heights, the feeling of flying on the back of a giant bird made her feel uneasy.

As she was steady on the ground, she heard Gandalf tell Thorin: "Bilbo is here. He's quite safe."

Thorin stood up with the help of Dwalin and Kili. "You!" he said to Bilbo. "What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed!" stepping closer to Bilbo he continued, "Did I not say that you were a burden? That you would not survive in the Wild? That you had no place amongst us?" Bilbo looked to the ground. "I have never been so wrong in my entire life." Thorin engulfed the small Hobbit in a hung and the Company started cheering.

"But I'm sorry I doubted you," Thorin said. "No, I would have doubted me too." the Hobbit replied. "I'm not a hero or a warrior." With a look at Gandalf, he added, "Not even a burglar." which made the company chuckle.

The eagles flew away squawking and Thorin started to walk closer to the edge of the rock they had landed on. "Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo asked. They all made their way to the edge to look at a mountain in the distance.

"What's that?" Erlanda asked. "Erebor," Gandalf explained. "The Lonely Mountain...the last of the great Dwarf kingdoms of Middle-Earth."

"Our home." Thorin smiled. Erlanda looked from the dwarves to the mountain, "So that's where we're going."

Their attention was brought off of the mountain as they saw a bird fly past them. "A raven," Oin commented. "The birds are returning to the mountain.

"That, my dear Oin," Gandalf corrected, "is a thrush."

"But we'll see it as a sign," Thorin said. "A good omen."

Bilbo nodded, "You're right. I do believe the worst is behind us."

 


	10. Chapter 10

"How close is the pack?" Thorin asked Bilbo who had just returned from spying ahead to see where Azog and the rest of the pack where while the Company waited on the other side of the mountain, hidden between large rocks.

"Too close. A couple of leagues, no more. But that's not the worst of it." the Hobbit replied.

"Have the Wargs picket up your scent?" Dwalin asked the Hobbit who had run into their midst.

"Not yet. But they will do." he panted. "We have another problem."

Gandalf stepped closer to the Hobbit and looked down at him worried, "Did they see you?"

Bilbo turned around to face the Wizard, "Huh?"

"They saw you."

"No, that's not it."

The Wizard nodded, "What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse." the Company laughed and began chattering amongst each other. "Excellent burglar material!" Gandalf praised.

Bilbo looked around exhausted, "Will you listen? Will you just..." the dwarves quieted down again, "...listen? I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there."

"What form did it take?" Gandalf asked the Hobbit slowly. "Like a bear?"

"Ye-Yes, but bigger. Much bigger"

"You knew of this beast?" Bofur asked Gandalf who turned his back to the Company, deep in thought.

"Should we go back?" Erlanda asked.

"And be run down by a pack of Orcs?" Thorin replied sarcastically.

Gandalf, who had still turned his back to them began, "There is a house..." he turned around again, looking at the dwarves, Bilbo, and Erlanda, "It's not far from here, where we might take refuge."

"Whose house? Friend or foe" Thorin asked rather gruffly but Erlanda could only agree, Gandalf was a strange man with strange friends. 

"Neither." the Wizard replied. "He will help us or..." he trailed off.

"Kill us?" Erlanda asked and Gandalf nodded. 

"What choice do we have?" Thorin asked just before they heard a loud roar.

"None," Gandalf said and they began to run once again.

They ran from between the rocks they had been hiding and onto green fields with a few trees. "Why do we always end up running?" Erlanda asked as they ran over a green path between the purple and white flowers around them. "You do not seem to have a problem with running." Bofur, who ran closest to her, replied.

It was true, for some reason Erlanda was a fast runner and running right behind Gandalf and Thorin. While the dwarves were not made to run for a long amount of time she could easily do so. She wondered what she was. Erlanda didn't have the pointy ears of an elf but was too strong, durable and agile to be a human also too tall to be a dwarf or a hobbit (she also lacked giant feet). 

As they went through another scenery change and ran, once again, down a hill between trees they could hear the loud roar again. They stopped and turned around but couldn't see anything which was probably good. "This way! Quickly!" Gandalf yelled and they began running again.

"Run!" Thorin yelled and pulled Bombur, who was still standing there, along at his beard. They ran through the woods, jumping over roots and ducking underneath low hanging branches.

As they finally made their way out of the woods they could see a house circled by green hedges and trees on a field of yellow grass. "To the house!" Gandalf yelled and to the house they ran.

Erlanda was running behind Nori as they looked to their right and saw Bombur running past them. "Come on, get inside," Gandalf said as they reached a very tall gate that led them to the house.

They ran to the house and Erlanda watched as Bombur, Kili, and Bofur promptly ran against the door. She turned around to see a giant bear jump out of the woods. "Open the door!" Gandalf yelled and Erlanda quickly made her way to the door where the other dwarves were already gathered, hitting the door.

She opened the door which swung to the inside of the house, letting the dwarves run into it with Erlanda. Gandalf and Bilbo quickly followed. As the Bear tried to follow the Company in, the dwarves threw themselves against the door trying to close it. They almost succeeded but the bear still had his scared head in the door. Erlanda heard Bilbo pull his sword from its sheath and she was about to pull her own as the Dwarves managed to close the door and block it with a large wooden plank.

Sighs of relief were heard as Ori turned around to Gandalf, "What was that?" he asked. "That is our host." the Wizard replied. "His name is Beorn. And he's a skin-changer. Sometime's he's a huge black bear. Sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable...but the man can be reasoned with. However...he is not overfond of Dwarves."

They could hear the bear, Beorn, growl outside and Erlanda thought that he must not be very fond of being locked out of his own home. She turned to Gandalf, "Couldn't you have told us that before you led us here?" The wizard nodded, "I could have but it wouldn't have changed anything." The two turned to see Dori pull his youngest brother away from the door.

"Get away from there. It is not natural, none of it is." he chided Ori, "It's obvious. He's under some...dark spell." Gandalf stepped to the dwarf, "Don't be foolish. He's under no enchantment but his own. All right, now get some sleep. All of you." he took of his hat, "You'll be safe here tonight." Erlanda seemed to be the only one who heard Gandalf add a quiet, "I hope."

The dwarves quickly settled down in the hay between the animals that were in Beorn's house. Erlanda wondered what the man would think of them, going into his house and sleeping there without being welcomed.

She made herself comfortable in the hay near Gloin and Fili and fell asleep rather quickly. This was the most comfortable way she had slept since they had left Rivendell. Not even the snoring of the dwarves could keep her awake now.


	11. Chapter 11

Erlanda woke to someone shaking her violently. "Wake up." she could hear Fili say, "Erlanda, breakfast." that was all the motivation she needed to quickly sit up, banging her head against the dwarfs in progress. 

Rubbing her head she turned to the dwarf and smiled sheepishly at him, "Sorry." Fili laughed and waved it off as he joined the other dwarves at the giant table.

Erlanda stood up and padded the hay off of her clothes and combed her fingers through her hair to brush out the knots and the hay. She then made her way to the table and sat down between Dwalin and Bofur. 

"So you are the one they call Oakenshield," Beorn told Thorin after pouring something, probably milk, into a mug in front of Fili. "Tell me..." he stepped away, "...why is Azog...the Defiler hunting you?" he turned around again to face Thorin.

"You know of Azog?" Thorin asked. "How?"

"My people were the first to live in the mountains...before the orcs came down from the North. The Defiler killed most of my family. But some he...enslaved." Erlanda looked at Beorn's wrist and saw that there was a shackle around it. "Not for work, you understand...but for sport. Cagin skin-changer and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

Bilbo, who had just joined the dwarves and Erlanda at the table, asked, "Are there more like you?"

"Once there were many." Beorn trailed off and Erlanda could guess the rest.

Bilbo did not. "And now?" he asked.

"Now there is only one." there was a small moment of silence before Beorn continued, "You must reach the mountain before the last days of autumn." he sat down.

"Before Durin's Day falls. Yes." Gandalf, who was smoking his pipe away from the table, said.

"You are running out of time."

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood." Gandalf nodded.

Beorn looked at the Wizard, "A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there...except in great deed."

"We will take the Elven Road," Gandalf assured. "That path is safe."

"I thought we had a strict no-elves-allowed rule?" Erlanda asked quietly but was overheard as Beorn asked, "Safe? The Wood Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not."

Thorin, who had stood up while Beorn was talking, turned around and looked at the giant man, "What do you mean?"

"These lands are crawling with Orcs." the skin-changer explained. "Their numbers are growing. And you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive." He stood up as Thorin seemed to grow angrier with every word he spoke. "I don't like Dwarves. They're greedy and blind." he picked up a mouse from the table that had been crawling in front of Erlanda, "Blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own... But Orcs I hate more." he walked in front of Thorin, "What do you need?"

Beorn had given them all ponies, except for Gandalf who was too tall for one. Erlanda had gotten one of the biggest ponies. She wasn't even sure if she could ride and would rather try her luck on something smaller than a horse. 

"What's wrong?" Balin asked her as she looked at her pony in doubt. "I'm not sure if I can ride," she explained. "Well, did you know you were good with a sword?" the dwarf asked. She shook her head. "From what I've seen with the goblins you are trained very well. Maybe you were a warrior before..." Erlanda knew what he meant. Before whatever caused her memory loss. She nodded. "I will give it a try then."

She watched how Thorin climbed on his pony and copied his movements. It seemed strange to sit in front after weeks of sitting behind a dwarf. 

"Go now. While you have the light." Beorn said. "Your hunters are not far behind." 

Erlanda watched how the dwarves made their ponies move forward and copied the movement with her legs. Soon enough, they were all riding over green hills. Erlanda's pony galloped next to Bilbo's who was at the very end. The Hobbit had once told her that he was not overly fond of ponies and therefore was not a good rider.

As they arrived at a forest, Gandalf dismounted his horse. "The Elven Gate." he spoke, "here lies our path through Mirkwood."

"No sign of Orcs." Dwalin commented, "We have luck on our side."

They got off of their ponies as Gandalf said, "Let the ponies loose now. Let them return to their master."

Erlanda looked ahead of her. The forest seemed dark and gloomy and the path itself was narrow and wound between the trunks. "The forest feels sick," Bilbo told Erlanda. Standing next to her he added, "As if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?"

Erlanda turned to Gandalf, asking herself the same question. "Not unless we go 200 miles north." the wizard told them. "Or twice that distance south." Gandalf walked into the forest and Erlanda back to her pony. She took her pack off its back with the help of Ori and then let it run free with the other ponies.

"Not my horse!" Gandalf called out to Nori. "I need it!" The Dwarves who had been chattering amongst each other now turned to Gandalf. "What?" Erlanda asked. "Are you planning to leave us?"

"I would not do this unless I had to." he then looked down at Bilbo next to him. "You've changed Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same Hobbit as the one who left the Shire." Bilbo looked up at him and Erlanda felt that it was a very personal moment so she turned to the dwarves as they began to unpack some of the things from their packs and load them onto themselves.

"What's that?" Gloin asked her as she got a small book out of her pack and put it in her coat. "A blank journal," Erlanda told the dwarf. "I've had dreams of places and people and some plants...a lot of plants actually...I wanted to draw them to maybe help me remember them." The dwarf nodded and went back to his pack. "Good luck then, with remembering."


	12. Chapter 12

"I will meet you at the slopes of Erebor." Gandalf had told the company before he had left them. He had also told them not to enter the mountain without him but Erlanda had a feeling that Thorin would not listen.

They were walking through the forest and being careful to stay on the path. Erlanda decided that she did not like the forest although she had the odd feeling that she knew it. Maybe she had been to similar forests once. 

It was a cold and rainy hike through the forest and the Company didn't talk as much as they usually did. 

"The path turns this way." Thorin's voice broke the silence as they walked around a corner and between big trees. The forest was now even darker than in the beginning and the only light they had was an occasional beam of sunlight that had the luck to make its way through the branches above them.

They rounded many more corners and passed even more trees as Bofur spoke, "Air. I need air." Oin agreed, "In my head, everything is swimming." Erlanda frowned, she didn't feel any strong effects. Although she had a bad feeling in her stomach she did not feel light-headed.

"What's happening?" Gloin asked Thorin. "Keep moving." the King replied but he also did not look healthy. "Nori...why have we stopped?" he asked and stepped to the dwarf in question who was walking at the very front, followed by his younger brother.

"The path," Nori said, "it's disappeared." Erlanda looked in front of her and pushed the leaves on the ground away. "What's going on?" Dwalin asked. There was no path beneath them. "We've lost the path," Oin told the rest of the Company.

"Find it," Thorin commanded and the company. "All of you, find it. Find the path!" they went looking for it, trying to track their steps back but were not successful. Nothing seemed familiar to the dwarves.

They became drowsy and it was slowly affecting Erlana too. She began to see strange figures but every time she tried to see their faces, they disappeared. As she saw one again, she followed it, not knowing that she was walking away from the dwarves. 

The figure was now standing right in front of her with it's back pointing towards her. "Hello?" she asked and the figure turned around. Erlanda let out a yelp and stumbled back. The figure had no face. She turned around again and ran to where she hoped she had come from. From the sides of the forest, she could hear voices. They seemed so familiar but she couldn't make out a word they said. 

Suddenly something stuck to her foot and made her trip. She fell forward and as she looked up, the figure stood in front of her again but this time there were even more of them. They all had different heights and hair and were wearing different clothing but none of them had a face. 

Something grabbed her from behind and lifted her into the air.

She was relieved at first until she turned around and was faced with eight giant eyes. Erlanda tried to let out a scream but she was quickly spun around at a rate that made her dizzy, and soon lose consciousness.

As she woke up again, it was as if she was looking through a white veil. It was difficult to breathe and to move and her head was pounding as if she was hanging upside down. She turned her head as good as she could and saw that she was still in the forest as she was surrounded by trees. As she looked upwards, she saw the forest floor. Looking downwards, she could see the treetops and all around her there were giant spiders.

She could hear them making clicking noises and talking to each other in strange voices. Then suddenly she could hear the swish of a sword and felt herself falling. She landed on the floor with a thumb, she could hear the dwarves around her talk to each other. 

Erlanda made her way out off the white cocoon she had been spun into and tried to get most of the cobwebs off her and out of her hair. "Where's Bilbo?" she heard one dwarf, probably Fili, say.

"I'm up here!" the Hobbit yelled which made the Company look upwards just in time to see a giant spider tackling Bilbo off of the branch he had been standing on. He fell down screaming and they quickly made their way towards the Hobbit to see if he was alright.

Before they could make it to their friend they were ambushed by the giant spiders again. Erlanda pulled her sword and started to slash and stab at them. She kicked at their feet and stabbed their stomaches as good as she could. As they had killed the spiders around them, they began to run again only to be stopped by more spiders coming down in front and above of them.

They made themselves ready to fight as suddenly a blond figure slid down right in front of them with a raised bow pointed at Thorin. "Do not think I won't kill you, Dwarf. It would be my pleasure." the blond spoke. Looking at his ear, it was clear to Erlanda that he must be an elf. Erlanda looked around and saw that they were surrounded by elves with bows and spears pointed at them.

"Search them." the blond elf said. Erlanda was searched by a female elf who took her sword and her dagger. "Hey, give that back! That's private!" Gloin complained as Blondie took away the amulet with pictures of his wife and son in it that he was wearing. Blondie opened it and asked, "Who is this? Your brother?"

"That is my wife!" Gloin replied angrily.

"And what is this horrid creature? A Goblin-mutant?"

"That's my wee lad, Gimli." The dwarf said and Blondie just lifted an eyebrow while another elf was still pulling knives from Fili.

Erlanda watched as Thorin's sword was handed to the blond elf who she thought must be their commander.  _"This is an ancient Elvish blade,"_  he spoke.  _"Forged by my kin."_  he weighed it in his hands and looked at the blade. "Where did you get this?" he asked Thorin.

"It was given to me." the dwarf told him and the elf immediately held it to Thorin's throat, "Not just a thief, but a liar as well."

"How do you know?" Erlanda asked, "Is there a Biography written on it?" 

The elf almost dropped the blade.  _"Annueth."_  he said,  _"Where have you been?"_   he went to step closer to her but Dwalin stepped in front of her. The elf looked at her strangely as if wondering what she was doing and then he yelled out, _"Take them!"_ and they were led deeper into the forest.

 


	13. Chapter 13

The put Erlanda into a cell near Dwalin's who was loudly complaining, as were Gloin and half of the other dwarves. Most of the elves left as did the blond one after a final look at Erlanda.

Erlanda sat in her cell as she heard some of the dwarfs bang and kick at their cell doors. "Leave it!" Balin yelled at them, "There's no way out! This is no Orc Dungeon. These are the Halls of the Woodland Realm. No one leaves here but by the King's consent."

Erlanda sighed and got out her journal. She opened it and started the first sketch in it. It was of her companions and she was almost finished when Thorin was brought to the rest of the company and put into Erlanda's cell.

"Did he offer you a deal?" Balin asked. "He did," Thorin confirmed, "And I told him îsh kakhfê ai'd dur-rugnul! Him and all his kin!" 

"Well, that's that, then," Balin replied and Erlanda could only guess with what Thorin had insulted this elven king. "A deal was our only hope." the dwarf with the split white bear said. 

"Not our only hope." Thorin corrected. "Bilbo is still out there."

Erlanda smiled slightly, it was not long ago that Thorin would have thought that the Hobbit would now leave them but he had learned to trust their burglar. She then made herself as comfortable as she could in the cell and listened to the dwarves talk all night until Ori asked, "We're never gonna reach the mountain, are we?" and a voice answered, "Not stuck in here, you're not."

Erlanda jumped up and walked to her cell door where she saw Bilbo. "Bilbo!" Balin exclaimed. "What?" Kili asked and the Dwarves began to chatter. She rolled her eyes, "Be quiet or they'll hear us!" 

Bilbo let Thorin and Erlanda out right after Dwalin. "Close the doors." Thorin ordered, "It'll buy us more time." Erlanda closed their door and then turned to watch as Bilbo release the other dwarves who laughed joyfully.

As they were all free they went to go up the stairs but Bilbo stopped them, "Not up there. This way, follow me." and he went down the stairs. They followed the Hobbit until they came to a large room very deep down.

"This way," Bilbo whispered and made a hand gesture for the dwarves to follow them. "Come on." he urged. 

"I don't believe it. We're in the cellars!" Kili exclaimed. Bofur looked at the Hobbit, "You were supposed to be leading us out, not further in!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Bilbo told them. "This way! This way!" they walked towards big barrels and Bilbo pointed at them, "Climb into the barrels quickly."

"Are you mad?" Dwalin asked the Hobbit. "They'll find us!"

"No, no. They won't, I promise you. Please, please. You must trust me." Bilbo pleaded and the Dwarves started murmuring. Erlanda rolled her eyes and got into one of the barrels. There was not a lot of room in them even if they were pretty big. "If I die in here, Master Baggins," she said, "I shall come back and haunt you!" 

The dwarves were still muttering until Thorin told them to listen to the Hobbit. "Move your big ginger head." Erlanda could hear Dwalin say, no doubt to Bombur as they climbed and crawled into the barrels.

Erlanda poked her head out again to see Bilbo counting them and making sure everyone was there. "Everyone's in," Nori told him and Bofur asked, "What do we do now?"

"Hold your breath." 

"Hold my breath?" Bofur asked, "What do you mean?" 

Erlanda saw that Bilbo was doing something with a lever of some sort and quickly put her head back into the barrel taking a deep breath as the barrels started rolling and then fell down into an underground river of some sorts. 

She then stood up a bit but quickly crouched down again as she almost lost her balance. The dwarves were short enough to still be completely standing in their barrels while Erlanda opted to stay in a more crouched way. Soon, Bilbo fell out of a latch in the ceiling and into the water. "Well done, Master Baggins," Thorin said. he then turned his barrel around and made a gesture in front of them, "Go!" he yelled, "Come on, let's go!"

They used their hands to paddle forwards so they would be faster because the current was not very fast but as soon as they got out into the daylight there was a small waterfall they fell down which made them a lot faster. Erlanda held tightly onto the wood of her barrel and tried not to let it flip over. 

A lot of water landed in the barrel but luckily not enough to let it sink. The Company was thrown from side to side in the curves of the river. The continued to float along as they suddenly heard a loud horn going off.

Looking in front of them, they saw that a few elves were standing at a bridge they had to pass under and as they heard the horn, one of them ran to a lever and closed a gate underneath it.

"No!" Thorin yelled as he and Bofur bumped against the gate and most of the dwarves followed. Erlanda looked back where more elves came running as suddenly one of the elves in front of them fell into the water. Looking up, Erlanda saw an Orc with a bow coming towards them followed by even more Orcs.

The Orcs were now killing the elves and Thorn yelled for the other dwarves to get under the bridge too when an orc jumped into the water in front of them but Bilbo managed to kill him quickly with his sword.

"'Landa!" Kili yelled as Dwalin fought off an orc with his bare hands. Erlanda looked to the dwarf that had called her and saw that he was pointing at the lever to which she was the closest. She quickly climbed out off her barrel and was promptly attacked by an orc who swung his weapon at her.

Erlanda ducked under his arm and then hit the orc in his face. She then caught the orc sword that Dwalin threw her and brought it over her head, hitting the orc in the face again. She then turned around and stabbed it but it still swung at her again until she managed to slice his abdomen and kick him into the river.  
  



	14. Chapter 14

Erlanda went for the lever again but once again an orc blocked her way. She blocked its blows and then managed to cut off its head. As the orc fell, she could see that there had been another one behind it but it was now embedded by an orc blade.

She didn't have time to thank whichever dwarf threw that as another orc went to chop off her head but she quickly ducked and chopped off its head instead before running to the lever again.

She had almost reached it as a burning pain shot through her leg. "'Landa!" both Kili and Fili yelled as she tried but failed to pull down the lever and open the gate. She fell to the ground and groaned in pain as she saw that there was an arrow sticking out of her leg. 

Just at that moment, another orc came towards her and she frantically looked around for the weapon she had been using as an arrow struck the orc and made it fall to the ground. Her head shot around to the blond elf that had captured them. He loaded his bow again and shot another orc that was coming her way and then fought off orcs on his side of the river.

Erlanda quickly pushed herself up against the wall and then made her way to the lever, hanging herself on it and pulling it down with her weight. She landed on the floor again and then looked down at the river where the dwarves had pushed her barrel in their middle. She let herself fall into it feet first and yelped as the arrow broke off and moved in her wound again.

She tried to hold her weight on the uninjured leg as Bofur pulled along her barrel and they all fell down another waterfall. The Company made their way through the river as they tried to keep themselves from drowning or being killed by orcs. Erlanda looked around and saw the blond elf again who was now running next to them along with a few other elves. They were all fighting off the orcs.

An Orc landed in the water in front of Erlanda and she quickly took its weapon. As another one came too close to her, she slashed at it and threw it into the water. "Kili!" she yelled as she saw him being attacked and threw her weapon at him. The dwarf caught it swiftly and killed the orc before throwing it to Gloin so he could kill the orc that had just jumped onto his barrel.

Erlanda could then see the blond elf again who jumped onto the heads of Dwalin and Dori to shoot arrows from there. Then he jumped up and turned around mid-air only to land on their heads again. After a moment of standing on Dwalin's head with one foot (while still shooting arrows) he jumped onto  Nori's head before running off onto land again and landed o the back of an orc, gliding down a small slope while standing on its back with both feet.

He once again ran over the dwarves heads to come to the other side of the river but thankfully made a large jump over Erlanda's head who watched as Thorin threw his sword at an orc that had been sneaking onto the elf while he was fighting off another one.

The Company floated away in their barrels and Erlanda looked back to see that the elf looked at her. She gave him a confused look. Did he know her? Did that elf maybe know about her past? Her questioned stayed unanswered as they drifted even further away from him.

As they continued along the river the current got slower and slower until it was so slow that Thorin used a branch he had found as a rudder. "Anything behind us?" he asked. 

"Not that I can see," Balin replied. Bofur stuck his head out of his barred and spit out a mouthful of water, "I think we've outrun the Orcs," he said.

"Not for long," Thorin replied. "We've lost the current. Make for the shore!" the Company quickly made their way to the shore and they were all unsteady on their feet. Erlanda made her way to the middle of the rocks they had climbed onto and looked at her wound. 

"Here," Bofur said and gave her a wet cloth. She pressed it to her wound and clenched her teeth to prevent her from yelling out loud and attracting more orcs. As she saw the concerned dwarf in front of her she gave him a weak smile. "I'll survive. It's not that bad."

"Stand up," Thorin commanded as he walked past Erlanda and Bofur. "'Landa's wounded. Her leg needs treatment." one of the dwarves around her defended her. Thorin looked around. "There's an Orc pack on our trail. We keep moving."

"To where?" Balin asked.

"To the mountain." Bilbo replied, "We're so close."

"A lake lies between us and that mountain," Balin argued. "We have no way to cross it."

"So then we go around." 

Dwalin looked at the two, "The orcs will run us down, as sure as daylight." he then turned to Thorin, "We've no weapons to defend ourselves."

Thorin nodded and looked at Erlanda, Bofur, Fili, and Kili as he walked past them, "Bind her leg, quickly." he stopped next to Balin and without looking at them, he added, "You have two minutes." The dwarves quickly helped Erlanda clean her wound and bind her leg as they saw a strange man with a bow in his hand looming over Ori.

Dwalin took a branch and blocked the archer's way. The Dwarf went to attack but his branch was quickly impaled by an arrow. As the archer turned around, Kili lifted a stone to throw but it was knocked out of his hand by another arrow.

"Do it again and you're dead." the archer spoke.

Balin, who seemed to have seen something behind the man spoke up, "Excuse me, but you're from Lake-town if I'm not mistaken." The bow was promptly pointed at the elder dwarf who lifted his hands, "That barge over there...it wouldn't be available for hire, by any chance?"

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

"What makes you think I would help you?" the man asked as he loaded the elvish barrels onto his boat.

"Those boots have seen better days," Dwalin answered. "As has that coat. No doubt you have some hungry mouths to feed. How many bairns?"

"A boy and two girls." the man replied while continuing to load his boat.

"And your wife, I imagine she's a beauty," Dwalin said with a smile and the man froze with his back to them, "Aye, she was."

Dwalin's smile faded, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Dwalin interrupted, "Oh, come on, come on. Enough of the niceties."

The man turned his head to the dwarf, "What's your hurry?"

"What's it to you?" he asked.

"I would like to know who you are...and what you are doing in this lands." he stepped from his boat and stopped in front of Balin, who explained, "We are simple merchants from the Blue Mountains journeying to see our kin in the Iron Hills."

"Simple merchants, you say?" the man moved to the barrels. "We need food...supplies, weapons. Can you help us?" Thorin asked. The man ran his hand along one of the barrels and the damage that the orcs had done to them, "I know where these barrels came from."

"What of it?" Thorin looked up at the man.

"I don't know what business you had with the Elves but I don't think it ended well." he looked around the small group, "No one enters Lake Town but by leave of the Master. All his wealth comes from trade with the Woodland Realm. He would see you in irons before risking the wrath of King Thranduil." He threw the rope with which he had bound his boat to the shore at Balin to catch.

Balin looked to Thorin who said, "Offer him more." the white-haired dwarf turned to the man again, "I wager there are ways to enter that town unseen." 

"Aye," the man said, "But for that, you would need a smuggler."

"For which we would pay double," Balin spoke. 

The man still seemed wary but made a hand gesture for them to get onto his bote. As Erlanda passed him he gave her a confused look, "You don't look so good, what business does a woman have with dwarves?"

"Well, you aren't exactly my type either," Erlanda remarked, "And I'm a translator."

"Translator?" the man asked.

 _"Im ped- i lamb -o i galadrim,"_  she said and the man seemed surprised but then nodded, understandingly. Erlanda moved to the front of the boat and sat next to Bofur as the man brought his boat over the icy lake, through the fog.

"Watch out!" Bofur yelled as they saw giant rocks in front of them. The man steered his boat between what turned out to be ruins, passing them narrowly. 

Thorin looked at the man, "What, are you trying to do, drown us?"

"I was born and bred on these waters, Master Dwarf." the man told them, "If I wanted to drown you I would not do it here."

Dwalin, who leaned on one of the barrels, watched the man suspiciously and annoyed, "Oh, I've had enough of this lippy Lakeman. I say we throw him over the side and be done with it."

Bilbo groaned, "Bard, his name's Bard."

"How do you know?" Bofur asked him. "Uh, I asked him." the Hobbit replied but Dwalin still looked at Bard grumpily, "I don't care what he calls himself. I don't like him."

"We don't have to like him," Balin told his brother, "We simply have to pay him." he was sorting gold coins on a small wooden box that he used as a table, "Come on now, lads. Turn out your pockets."

"How do we know he won't betray us?" Dwalin asked Thorin.

"We don't." the latter replied.

Balin spoke up, "There's just a wee problem. We're 10 coins short." the dwarves groaned and Thorin crossed his arms over his chest, "Gloin...Come on. Give us what you have."

"Don't look at me." the red-headed dwarf grumbled, "I have been bled dry by this venture." he didn't notice that the other dwarves attention was slowly moving from him to something behind him as he continued, "What have I seen for my investment?" the other dwarves were now standing up as he continued ranting, "Naught but misery and grief and-" he now noticed the other dwarves and stood up himself to see what everyone else was looking at: the Lonely Mountain.

"Bless my beard," Gloin said and took out a pouch of money, "Take it," he handed it to Balin, "Take all of it."

Bilbo cleared his throat to get the dwarves attention and then made a head motion towards Bard who was walking towards them, "The money, quick. Give it to me."

"We will pay you when we get our provisions but not before," Thorin said.

"If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say." Bard spoke, "There are guards ahead." The dwarves turned and saw docks and boats in front of them. Balin handed him the money. "Quick, into the barrels," Bard said.

Erlanda made her way to one of them, trying not to put too much weight on her injured leg but Bard stopped her. "You won't be as suspicious as 13 dwarves or a halfling." she nodded and leaned against the mast of the boat so she could see what Bard was doing as he stepped onto the docks.

"What's he doing?" Dwalin asked.

"He's talking to someone," Erlanda told him. "Now he's pointing directly to us." she continued watching the man with narrowed eyes, "They're shaking hands now."

"What?" Thorin asked and Dwalin said, "The Villain. He's selling us out."

Erlanda tried not to laugh as she saw men with a lot of fish walking towards them, "No, don't worry. He's not."

"Then what-" Dwalin started but was silenced by fish falling on top of him. 

The dwarves grunted as they were buried beneath fish and continued to make noise as Bard steered the boat over the lake again. He kicked one of the barrels, "Quiet. We're approaching the tollgate."

"Halt!" someone yelled out, "Goods inspection! Papers, please!" a man stepped out of a wooden building by the gate, "Oh, it's you, Bard."

"Morning, Percy," Bard spoke.

"Anything to declare?" the man asked. 

Bard brought his boat closer to Percy, "Nothing, but that I am cold and tired," he handed the man some a piece of paper, "and ready for home."

The man took Bard's paper, "You and me both." He put a stamp on it and handed the paper back to Bard, "Here you go. All in order."

"Not so fast."


	16. Chapter 16

A greasy looking man that was dressed completely in black and had joined eyebrows inspected Bard's papers, "'Consignment of empty barrels from the Woodland realm' only..." he pointed with the paper at the barrels, "they're not empty," he let the paper fly off in the wind, "are they, Bard? If I recall correctly you're licensed as a bargeman and not as," he picked up a fish, "a fisherman."

"That's none of your business," Bard said.

"Wrong. It's the Master's business, which makes it my business; and what is she," he pointed at Erlanda, "doing here. Who are you?"

"I na- ú- cín rhû, golodh," she told him.

"She was sent from the Woodland Realm to look over the cargo until it arrives," Bard told the man.

The man looked her up and down in her tattered clothes, luckily her hair was hiding her ears, "She doesn't look like an elf."

Erlanda nodded, "Cin ceri- ú- thír like a firen"

"She's a servant," Bard told him.

"Well," the man said, "Nonetheless, this fish is not permitted to enter Lake Town."

"Oh, come on, Alfrid, have a heart." Bard pleaded, "People need to eat."

"This fish is illegal." Alfrid threw the fish he was holding into the lake. "Empty the barrels over the side," he ordered five guards who started to do as they were told.

Bard looked from the barrels to Alfrid, "Folk in this town are struggling. Times are hard." Erlanda watched concerned how the guards began dumping fish. "Food is scarce." Bard continued.

"That's not my problem," Alfrid told him and Erlanda had to refrain herself from looking at the man in disgust.

"And when the people hear the Master is dumping fish back in the lake," Bard said, "when the rioting starts, will it be your problem then?"

The man looked at Bard in hatred but then lifted his hand, "Stop." he signalled to the guards who set the barrels back down. Alfrid then spoke to Bard again, "Ever the people's champion eh, Bard? Protector of the common folk. You might have their favour now, bargeman but it won't last." he stepped away from Bard who sighed.

"Open the gate!" Percy yelled. Bard got back on his boat as the gate into Lake Town was opened for them.

Alfrid turned back to look at Bard as he made his way towards the gate, "The Master has his eyes on you." he spoke, "You'd be better to remember: We know where you live."

"It's a small town, Alfrid." Bard said, "Everyone knows where everyone lives."

Erlanda refrained herself from laughing and just looked ahead with a small smile on her face as they made their way through the town.

As they arrived at another dock, Barth bound his boat to it and then kicked over the barrel with Nori in it. He continued tipping over barrels with the help of Erlanda until all the dwarves were freed and reeking of fish.

Bard handed a man a coin. "You didn't see them. They were never here." he turned to walk away but then looked at the man again, "The ish you can have for nothing." He walked in front of the dwarves. "Follow me," he stated, looking around.

Erlanda looked at the dwarves and then followed the man, the dwarves close behind her. 

As they were walking beneath another house, a boy came running towards them, "Da! Our house, it's being watched."

Bard looked back at the dwarves. Then he picked up some things from around him and handed some to his son and some to Erlanda. "You swim underneath the houses," he told the dwarves. He then pointed at a house not too far away, "That's where you come up. You'll know the exact spot when you see it."

"What about 'Landa?" Dwalin asked. 

"She's human. She won't attract any attention, at least not the kind you'd attract." Bard answered and then nodded forward signalling his son to start walking to their house. 

Erlanda followed the boy with Bard behind her as they made their way around a few corners and then up a flight of stairs. She entered the house behind the boy as Bard stayed outside a moment. 

As Bard entered, a little girl in a blue dress came walking towards him, "Da! Where have you been?" She ran and hugged him as another girl walked over to him, "Father! There you are! I was worried." she hugged him too and then Bard turned to Erlanda who awkwardly standing in their living room.

"This is Tilda." he motioned to the younger girl and then to the older, "and this is Sigrid. You've already met Bain." he nodded at the boy standing near Erlanda. "Girls, Bain, this is..."

"Erlanda," she told him.

Bard nodded. "She and her companions need our help."

"Who are your companions?" Tilda asked curiously.

"Bah, get them in," Bard told his son.

Erlanda smiled at the girl, "You'll meet them soon." as she heard Dwalins ruff voice, she added. "And don't be afraid. They look more intimidating then they are."

Sigrid looked down to where the dwarves were coming up, "Da, why are there Dwarves climbing out of our toilet?"

"Will they bring us luck?" Tilda asked and Erlanda snorted very un-ladylike. "Who knows," she told her as Kili glared at Erlanda.

The dwarves then made themselves comfortable and dried their wet things in front of the fire while Tilda handed out cloaks.

Bard came towards them, "They might not fit you but they'll keep you warm."

Erlanda sat beside the window as Tilda came to her. "I'm fine, thank you," she told the girl. "This is enough." she patted the coat she was wearing.

"Hey, that's mine," Gloin said, looking at the woman.

Erlanda gave him a sheepish smile. "I might have taken it when you forgot it at Beorn's. It's very comfortable."

The dwarf grumbled slightly but then turned towards the fire again. It seems like he didn't really miss it.

Thorin, who had been looking out of the window, spoke, "A dwarvish windlance."

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Bilbo commented.

Balin stepped towards the two, "He has. The last time we saw such a weapon a city was on fire. It was the day the dragon came. The day that Smaug destroyed Dale." he told Bilbo and Erlanda, who had now leaned in to hear the older dwarves story, "Girion, the Lord of the City rallied his bowmen to fire upon the beast. But a dragon's hide is tough. Tougher than the strongest armour. Only a Black Arrow fired from a windlance could have pierced the dragon's hide."

"Why did nobody kill him?" Erlanda asked, "When they had a windlance."

"The windlance is not the problem," Balin told her. "The rarity of the arrows is. Only a few of them were ever made. Girion had three but his storage ran low as he made his last stand."

Still looking out of the window, Thorin spoke, "Had the aim of Men been truer that day much would have been different."

The wooden floor creaked as Bard came towards them, "You speak as if you were there."

"All dwarves know the tale," Thorin said.

Bain stepped towards his father, "Then you would know that Girion hit the dragon. He loosened a scale under the left wing. One more shot and he would have killed the beast."

Dwalin chuckled from behind the two, "That's a fairy story, lad. Nothing more."

Thorin now moved away from the window and stood in front of Bard. "You took our money. Where are our weapons?"


	17. Chapter 17

Bard put something heavy on the table in front of the dwarves. It was wrapped up in cloth that he now began to untie. He opened up the cloth and revealed an array of strange objects.

The dwarves grabbed some of them and inspected them, not happy with what they saw. 

"What is this?" Thorin asked, holding up what he had in hand. It was mostly made out of wood but had three hooks at the front. 

"Pike hook," Bard told him, "Made from an old harpoon."

"And this?" Kili held up a metal clump on a stick. 

"A crowbill, we call it. Fashioned from a smithy's hammer." Erlanda watched Thorin and Dwalin exchange a look as Bard continued, "It's heavy in hand, I grant but in defence of your life, these will serve you better than none."

Gloin looked at him grumpily, "We paid you for weapons. Iron-forged swords and axes!"

"It's a joke!" Bofur exclaimed throwing the strange wooden objects he had been holding onto the table. The other dwarves copied his action.

"You won't find better outside the city armoury. All iron-forged weapons are held there under lock and key."

Erlanda once again saw Dwalin and Thorin exchange a look.

"Thorin," Balin said, "Why not take what's on offer and go? I've made do with less. So have you." then he added a bit louder, "I say we leave now."

"You aren't going anywhere," Bard said.

"What did you say?" Dwalin asked.

"There are spies watching this house and probably every dock and wharf in the town." he looked around the company, "You must wait till nightfall."

Erlanda sighed and sat down on a bench. Her Leg was growing numb now which must be because of the wound. 

As Bard left the house, they waited until Bofur said, "He's far enough away."

Erlanda nodded. "Bain?" she called out. The boy had been watching the dwarves every move but now looked to her.

"Do you think you can get me something to wrap this up freshly?" she asked motioning to her leg.

The boy nodded and went into another room, luckily Sigrid was with Tilda in another room on the other side so the dwarves quickly left the house. 

Bain came back with a bandage and saw as Bombur was walking out of the door after the others. "Hey!" he called out, "You can't leave!"

Fili poked his head back into the house, "You can't stop us."

They left quickly and Bain stayed in the house. He couldn't leave his sisters. 

The company made its way through the small town trying not to be seen while finding the armoury. As they found it, it was already dark.

"Can you see something?" Bilbo asked.

"I can't see anything," Oin answered.

Thorin whispered, "As soon as we have the weapons, we make straight for the mountain." he then motioned for Nori to go, "Go, go!"

"Go, Nori!" Dori whisper-yelled at his younger brother who ran up some of the dwarves who were on all fours next to and on top of each other to build stairs that led to an open window of the armoury.

"Next," Thorin whispered and Bilbo copied Nori's actions. They continued like this until most of the dwarves but were inside.

Kili helped Erlanda reach up to Dwalin and Thorin who pulled her up. She then reached down again and pulled up Kili. 

The dwarves took all the weapons that they might need and handed them to Kili and Erlanda. The two of them made their way down the stairs as a sudden pain ran up Erlanda's leg. She winced and tumbled forward against Kili making them both tumble down the stairs while the weapons clattered to the floor loudly.

They heard guards shouting in the distance and Kili cursed next to Erlanda. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "It's not your fault. We shouldn't have given you so much to carry," he told her but she knew that he was still angry.

They were quickly captured by the guards and brought to the town square in front of the Master's house.

"What is the meaning of this?"  a man asked as he exited the house in front of them. He had orange hair that reached his shoulders but the top of his head was almost bald. Only a few strands of hair were spread over it and in his face was the ugliest moustache Erlanda had ever seen while his stomach was almost as round as Bombur's.

"We caught them stealing weapons, sire." one of the guards said, he was not wearing a helmet like the others and his clothes were different too. Erlanda thought he must have a higher ranking than them.

"Enemy's of the state, eh?"

Alfrid stepped forward now, "A desperate bunch of mercenaries, if ever there was, sire."

"Hold your tongue!" Dwalin warned. He stepped forward, "You do not know to whom you speak. This is no common criminal." he looked back at his third cousin, "This is Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror!"

The crowd started murmuring as Thorin stepped forward. 

"We are the Dwarves of Erebor." Thorin spoke and gasps were heard in the crowd,  "We have come to reclaim our homeland. I remember this town in the great days of old." he looked around, "Fleets of boats lay at the harbour filled with silks and fine gems. This was no forsaken town on a lake. This was the centre of all trade in the North!" the crowd around him nodded in agreement. "I would see those days return. I would relight the great forges of the Dwarves and send wealth and riches flowing once more from the Halls of Erebor!" the crowd around Thorin cheered as he looked at the Master.

"Death!" a voice yelled and Erlanda turned to see Bard walking to them, "That is what you will bring upon us!" Erlanda and Bilbo stepped apart to let him through, "Dragon fire and ruin." he stopped in front of Thorin, "If you wake that beast...it will destroy us all."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Last Kingdom is giving me so many feels rn, I can't wait for season 4


	18. Chapter 18

"You can listen to this naysayer," Thorin spoke, looking from Bard to the crowd, "but I promise you this: If we succeed all will share the wealth of the mountain." The crowd began chattering again and Thorin continued, "You will have enough gold to rebuild Esgaroth 10 times over!"

The crowd cheered and Bard turned towards them, "All of you! Listen to me! You must listen!" As they quieted down he spoke, "Have you forgotten what happened to Dale? Have you forgotten those who died in the firestorm?"

Erlanda could hear a woman's voice cry out "No!" as the crowd all shook their heads.

"And for what purpose?" Bard asked, "The blind ambition of a Mountain King, so driven by greed, he could not see beyond his own desire!"

"Now, now!" the Master spoke, "We must not, any of us, be too quick to lay blame. Let us not forget," he looked at Bard, "that it was Girion, Lord of Dale, your ancestor, who failed to kill the beast!"

Alfrid nodded at the Master, "It's true, sire. We all know the story." he looked at Bard, "Arrow after arrow, he shot. Each one missing its mark."

The crowd murmured in agreement. Bard stepped in front of Thorin and looked down at him, "You have no right, no right to enter that mountain."

Thorin leaned forward, "I have the only right." he then turned around and looked up to the Master who was still standing at the top of the stairs that led to his house. "I speak to the Master of the Men of the Lake." he stepped up a few stairs, "Will you see the prophecy fulfilled? Will you share in the great wealth of our people?"

There was a moment of silence as everyone looked up at the Master, waiting for his response.

"What say you?" Thorin asked.

"I say unto you..." the Master started, "Welcome!" he held his hands up high as the crowd cheered, "Welcome! And thrice welcome, King Under the Mountain!

The crowd cheered and hugged each other and the Company was lead into the Master's house and into a separate room.

There was a fireplace on one side and sofas and armchair spread across the rest of the room. Erlanda asked herself for what this room was usually used. Probably a living room.

"Just wait here until the food is ready." the Master spoke and then went off. 

The Company made themselves comfortable in the room and started chatting. Erlanda started a fire in the fireplace and then looked around the room.

In one of the corners, there was a strange wooden object. Erlanda picked it up and looked at it. The main part of it was a round shape that got stretched out at one end on which it then had a long wooden piece attached to it. Over the long part and a hole that was in the round form, there were six strings attached, that all had a different thickness.

Erlanda played around with the strings and the instrument of some sort made a sound that sounded horrible. She continued to play around with it until she figured out which string made what sound and she noticed that it was a lot easier to make pleasant sounds if she did not fully concentrate on what she was doing, as if her hands knew what to do even if her mind did not.

She looked around the room a bit, wondering if she knew a song that she could play and perhaps sing to. Her eyes landed on Thorin who was looking at a map that she knew was of the Lonely Mountain.

Erlanda hummed a bit before she tried singing.

_Oh misty eye of the mountain below_

She made a small break, thinking about what to sing next. 

_Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls_

_And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke_

_Keep watching over Durin's sons_

Erlanda now started playing on the instrument in her hands as the attention of the dwarves was slowly moving to her.

_If this is to end in fire_

_Then we should all burn together_

_Watching the flames climb high into the night_

_Calling out father, oh, sent by and we will_

_Watch the flames burn over and over the mountainside_

The dwarves were now all looking at her as she looked into the fireplace and thought of what they had already been through and what was lying ahead.

_And if we should die tonight_

_Then we should all die together_

_Raise a glass of wine for the last time_

_Calling out father, oh_

_Prepare as we will_

_Watch the flames burn over and over the mountainside_

_Desolation comes upon the sky_

_Now I see fire, inside the mountain_

_I see fire, burning the trees_

_And I see fire, hollowing souls_

_And I see fire, blood in the breeze_

_And I'll hope that you'll remember me_

There was a small pause in which she just played the instruments with closed eyes before she continued.

_Oh, should my people fall_

_Then surely I'll do the same_

_Confined in mountain halls_

_We got too close to the flame_

_Callin' out father, oh_

_Hold fast and we will_

_Watch the flames burn on and on the mountainside_

_Desolation comes upon the sky_

Erlanda watched the flames again as a few of the dwarves sang with her.

_Now I see fire, inside the mountain_

_I see fire, burning the trees_

_And I see fire, hollowing souls_

_And I see fire, blood in the breeze_

_And I'll hope that you'll remember me_

_And if the night is burning_

_I will cover my eyes_

_For if the dark returns then my brothers will die_

_And if the sky's falling down_

_It crashed into this lonely town_

_And with that shadows upon the ground_

_I hear my people screaming out_

_Now I see fire, inside the mountain_

_I see fire, burning the trees_

_And I see fire, hollowing souls_

_And I see fire, blood in the breeze_

_I see fire, oh you know I saw a city burning_

_Fire_

_And I see fire, feel the heat upon my skin_

_Fire_

_And I see fire, ooh_

_Fire_

_And I see fire, burn on and on the mountainside_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Song is I see fire by Ed Sheeran, pretty sure everyone knows that tho


	19. Chapter 19

As Erlanda woke the next morning, her leg hurt worse than it had before. She checked the wound under her bandage and saw that the skin around it had turned dark. Cursing, she stood as good as she could and looked over the dwarves.

The day before they had celebrated with the folk of Lake Town and some of the dwarves were still sleeping. Thorin and Dwalin had already awoken and were packing their things along with Bilbo.

Erlanda walked towards the three and Dwalin chuckled as he saw her. "You look horrible, lass. You shouldn't that drink much."

She gave the dwarf a weak smile as she hobbled over to him.

"I don't think that that is the reason." Thorin looked Erlanda over, "It's your leg, isn't it?"

Erlanda nodded and took off the bandage. As she saw Dwalin and Thorin's faces, she said: "It's bad, isn't it?"

"It is," Dwalin agreed.

Thorin looked at her wound again, "If you can't walk properly, we can't take you with us. It's too much of a risk, you'll slow us down."

"You can't be serious," Bilbo spoke from behind Erlanda. 

She turned to the Hobbit and then back to Thorin. "No.," she said, looking back at Bilbo. "He's right, I'll only slow you down and I wouldn't put it above the dragon to be able to smell blood." Erlanda then turned back to Thorin, "But I'll help you get ready and accompany you to the boat."

Thorin nodded and the four of them began packing again while the other dwarves slowly awoke. They then made their way over the docks towards a boat that would take the dwarves and Bilbo to the lonely mountain.

The company filled into the boat, all but Erlanda and Oin who had decided to stay with her and help with her wound since his duty laid with the wounded.

Kili held out his hand for Erlanda to take so he could help her into the boat. "I'm not coming," she said.

"What are you talking about? Of course, you are." he smiled as though he thought she was joking.

"Not this time," Thorin said from next to his nephew. "We have to hurry, she'll only slow us down."

Erlanda nodded, "I'm going to stay here and then when you got the mountain back, I can still come after you with Oin when I'm healed."

"Come on." Fili patted Kili's shoulder as five musicians started playing music. "We'll see the two again soon enough."

The crowds around them cheered as the Master spoke, "Go now with our goodwill and good wishes. And may your return bring good fortune to all!" The crowd cheered again as he waved, "Goodbye!"

The boat continued down the river and as it was barely visible from where Erlanda stood, Bofur came running towards them. He saw how far away the boat was and cursed before he saw Erlanda and Oin. "Ha. So you missed the boat as well?"

Erlanda shook her head and was about to say something when she suddenly got light-headed and threatened to fall. Oin and Bofur immediately steadied her and Oin explained, "'Landa isn't feeling so good."

The two dwarves helped her towards a bench where she could sit down and Oin then looked at her leg. "You were shot by an orc, right?" he asked. Erlanda nodded, "Then I think you must have been poisoned though I can not tell which poison was used."

"Then how do we help her?" Bofur asked.

The three of them went from door to door and asked for help but nobody would help. They either knew nothing of poison and healing or were too afraid to get poisoned themselves. As a last resort, when Erlanda was feeling weaker and weaker, they made their way to Bard's home.

The man opened the door, took one look at the three and simply stated, "No." As they looked at him pleadingly he added, "I'm done with Dwarves. Go away." he went to close the door but Bofur stopped him quickly.

"No, no, no. Please! No one will help us." he motioned to the woman in the middle of the two dwarves, "'Landa's sick." Erlanda looked up and revealed her grey face, void of any color, "very sick." Bofur added.

Bard sighed and let the three of them enter and then led them to a cot where Erlanda laid down. The pain was getting worse and she started to groan in pain as sweat ran down her face. 

Bofur heated some water and then brought it to Oin who used it to boil some bandages. "Can you not do something?" he asked the older dwarf.

"I need herbs," Oin told him. "Something to bring down his fever."

Over her groans, Erlanda could vaguely hear Bard count up some herbs he had. The names seemed familiar to her but she couldn't remember where she knew them from. 

"They're no use to me," Oin spoke. "Do you have any kingsfoil?"

"No, it's a weed. We feed it to the pigs," he replied.

Bofur looked at the man. "Pigs? Weed...Right." he stepped to Erlanda, "Don't move." he said and went to leave.

"Bofur?" she called him back. The dwarf turned to look at her and she got our the small journal from her coat. "I-It might be in there." the dwarf nodded, took the journal and raced out of the house.

Sigrid came over to her and used a wet cloth to wipe the sweat of Erlanda's face who was now shaking but tried to give the girl a smile although it looked more like a grimace.

"What happened to her?" Tilda asked.

Oin looked at Bard, unsure how much he should tell the little girl. "We were followed by Orcs and one of them shot her." he then told her.

"Will she be okay again?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, of course, she will." Oin nodded and gave her a smile but all besides Tilda knew that it was unsure if that was true. "Now where is that dwarf? How many pigs do you have in this town?"

"Not a lot." Bain told him and Tilda added, "The nearest ones are Clarence, Ernest, and Eliza. On the other side of the town, there's also Harriet but Da said that she will go soon."

They then continued to watch over Erlanda who was now thrashing more and still groaning in pain as the earth underneath them shook.

"Da?" Sigrid asked.

"It's coming from the mountain," Bain said.

Oin turned to Bard, "You should leave us, laddie. Take your children and get out of here."

"And go where?" Bard asked and shook his head. "There is nowhere to go."

Tilda stepped towards her father, "Are we going to die, Da?"

"No, darling." Bard shook his head.

"The dragon...It's going to kill us."

Bard looked at his youngest child and then ripped something from the ceiling: a black arrow. "Not if I kill it first."


	20. Chapter 20

Bard and Bain had left the house and after a while, Bain came back, but without Bard.

"Where's Da?" Tilda asked.

Bain looked at his younger sister, "We were ambushed by guards. He told me to hide the black arrow and I did but they got him."

"Why would they do that?" Bofur asked.

"Our father was never really liked by the Master," Sigrid explained. "He was looking for a reason to arrest him since years. I guess because he spoke against the Master yesterday, they locked him in now."

As they heard the creaking of wood, Sigrid stepped out of the house to look who it was.

Erlanda then heard Sigrid scream as she rushed back into the house and tried to close the door but an Orc was preventing her from doing so. Another one then came barging through the back entrance and Oin threw a set of pots at him as another one came crashing through the ceiling.

Erlanda could not fully see what was happening with Sigrid but she could hear her scream. Tilda was throwing plates at an orc and then hid under their table with Sigrid. 

As an Orc stepped closer to Erlanda. she tried to reach something to defend herself but she was shaking too much to grab something and there wasn't anything near her reach that could be used as a weapon anyway.

She was sure that the orc would kill her as she saw the blond elf, that had captured them in Mirkwood, jump through the ceiling. He immediately shot the orc in front of her and then shot another one that was about to come through the front door.

He then continued to fight off the orcs, throwing a blade into one's head that Oin then pulled out and used to kill some orcs himself. Blondie continued shooting a few from his position on the table and then pulled his sword to fight the ones closest to him. As most of the orcs were dead and the rest fled, the elf turned to Erlanda. "Are you hurt?" he asked her. "Aside from your leg wound?"

She gave him a strange look but shook her head. "Why are you helping us? You imprisoned us and I don't even know your name?" the ending seemed more like a question than a statement as she shook again and let out a scream.

"You once knew me." the elf said. "And my name is Legolas. Now, we must get you away from here."

"We can't move her," Oin spoke. "That would surely kill her."

The elf, Legolas, looked worried. "We captured one of the orcs that attacked you. He said it was a Morgul venom. I've only seen this once before."

"Well, what did you do?" Oin asked.

"I didn't do anything." he nodded at Erlanda, "She did. She's a healer." 

At that moment, Bofur came walking in with the kingsfoil. Legolas looked at the plant and took it from the dwarf. "This is what she used. Athelas." he looked at Oin. "Do you have any warm water?"

"Aye." the dwarf nodded and took a fresh bowl pouring in the rest of the water that Bofur had heated. Legolas put the plant into the water. "Are you sure you know what you're doing, elf?" Oin asked.

Legolas nodded, though it was clear that he was not entirely sure. "I memorized the words she spoke." Erlanda was now thrashing around again. "Hold her down," he told the two dwarves.

Oin held down Erlanda's legs while Bofur made sure her shoulders stayed down.

The elf got the plant out of the water and ripped it even smaller, making into a cream-like substance which he spread on her leg.  _"Menno o nin na hon i eliad annen annin, hon leitho o ngurth"_ he spoke repeatedly as Erlanda slowly lost her consciousness.

As Erlanda woke up again, the pain in her leg was almost entirely gone and so was the elf. She looked around the room and could not find him but noticed that there was a fresh bandage wrapped around her leg.

"He's gone to kill the nearby orcs," Bofur told her as he saw that she was awake. "Left you this." he pointed at the table where her sword and her dagger were lying with a bow and a quiver full of arrows.

"I can't shoot," Erlanda remarked.

"That's what we told him too but he insisted that you were an excellent shot," Oin told her. "He also made us promise to protect you. A very strange elf, if you ask me."

Bofur helped her stand up and handed her the sword from the table. Erlanda strapped it around her hip and then did the same with the dagger. She then picked up the bow with the quiver and handed it to Bofur. 

"I can't shoot," Bofur told her and as she looked at Oin, the other dwarf said. "Even if I could shoot, that bow is too big for a dwarf."

So, she put the stapped the quiver onto her back and then put the bow around it so she had her hands free. "What now?" she asked.

"We should get out of here," Bain said, "it's too dangerous to stay here, who knows how much time we have until that dragon comes here."

The dwarves nodded and ushered Erlanda, who was still a little wobbly on her feet, out of the house while Sigrid took her little sister at the hand and Bain followed the five of them out of the house.

They had just made their way out of the house as they heard loud voices around them and looked into the sky, only to see a large figure fly over the sky directly towards Lake Town; Smaug.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap for the second movie


	21. Chapter 21

"We gotta go!" Oin said as they quickly made their way to a small boat that was waiting for them in the water.

They saw Smaug fly above them as Erlanda, Oin and Bofur tried to get them over the lake as fast as possible. The dragon turned around again and then opened his gigantic mouth and covering the town in flames. Panic rose everywhere around them as the townsfolk tried to get to safety.

"Look out!" came a voice from in front and Erlanda turned to see a bigger boat hit theirs. It was the Master's boat and on it stood said man with Alfred by his side and guards to bring them forwards. The entire boat was filled with gold.

"Move it! Move it!" the master yelled as they ignore all the people around them, calling out for help. "My gold! My gold!" the fat red-haired man cried as he watched gold fall into the water. Erlanda and her companions watched them go.

They moved their boat underneath a house so they would be safe from the burning pieces of wood that fell into the lake and they hoped that they would be lucky and that this house would not catch fire too soon. 

As the flames grew closer they decided to get out of the town so the two dwarves and Erlanda manned the rudders.

"Da," Bain suddenly said. Erlanda turned around and saw that Bard had climbed onto a wooden bell tower.

"Da!" Tilda yelled as they watched as the man climbed about and fired arrows at the beats in the sky.

"He hit it!" Erlanda then yelled as she watched the Bowman, "He hit the dragon!"

"No," Bofur told her.

"He did! I saw it!" Erlanda insisted.

Bofur looked at her, "His arrows cannot pierce his armour, lassie. Nothing can do that."

She looked down and concentrated on getting them forward as Bain suddenly stood up and reached for a hook that hung down above them. He let himself be lifted off from their boat and Bofur tried to hold him back, "Come back! Bain!" the dwarf yelled.

"Bain!" his sisters yelled.

"We can't go back," Erlanda told the dwarves as his sisters cried out for him again.

They made their way out of the town as Bard's children kept their eyes on their father and their brother who were now alone on the tower. The dragon flew over it and ripped the top part off but they could faintly see the two figures stand up again before they were out of eyesight.

The next thing they knew, the dragon flew up and looked like he tried to save himself from drowning before his wings gave out and the beast crashed into the lonely town.

The group made their way to the shore and as they arrived, the night was already over and they could hear cries of the wounded all around them. "Da!" Tilda yelled, looking around, "Da!" her sister yelled with her.

Bofur and Oin then brought the boat back into the water. "Come on, 'Landa!"

Erlanda made her way to the boat but then turned around as she heard the two girls still yelling for their father. "Someone has to help him."

"Others will do that," Bofur assured her.

But nobody went near the two girls. The people around them were mourning their own family or helping them out of the waters. Erlanda turned to the dwarves, "You two go ahead, I'll come after you but I have to help them first."

The dwarves looked at each other and then back at her before nodding slowly, "Then we will see each other soon."

Erlanda nodded and watched the dwarves go before walking over to the children. "Let's find your father."

The two girls nodded and together they made their way through the crowd, searching for the bowman. It was easier as Erlanda had thought as they heard a woman's yelling and Erlanda went to look at what happened.

"Da!" Tilda cheered as she saw her father hold Alfred away from a woman who was holding blankets in her arms.

A smile spread over Bard's face, "Come here!" Bard hugged his daughters and then sent a smile in Erlanda's way as he saw her standing in the crowd. She then turned around and made her way toward a boat she had seen. It was broken at the top but this was still usable.

"Why are you alone?"

Erlanda spun around quickly, surprised by the voice. It was the blond elf again.

"The dwarves were supposed to protect you," he said.

She gave him a questioning look, "What is it to you, Blondie?"

Legolas almost smiled before something else took the place of happiness in his eyes. Erlanda did not know what it was but it almost looked like sadness. 

He ignored her question and started explaining, "The orc who led the attack on Lake Town, his name is Borg. A spawn of Azog the Defiler." he saw her nodding slowly although it was clear that she did not know why he was telling her this, "A Warg pack was waiting for him on the outskirts of Esgaroth. They fled into the North." there was a small pause, then he added, "And they bore the mark of Gundabad."

"Which is...?"

"An Orc stronghold in the far North of the Misty Mountains. I will ride there."

Erlanda nodded and turned around to get her boat ready. There was a sigh behind her, "That was supposed to indicate that I wish you to come with me."

"Oh," Erlanda turned to face the elf again, "I don't think it's a good idea. I told Bofur and Oin that I will come after them."

The elf's jaw clenched, "It's not safe on your own. The orcs could return any moment."

Erlanda studied the elf and then looked at the mountain before looking back at him and holding up a hand, pointing at him. "We'll hurry up and you'll bring me to the dwarves after that."

Although he did not seem very happy about the second part of her request, he nodded and they made their way to a white horse that was waiting for him. Legolas mounted it first and then helped her up. Then they made their way up north as fast as they could.


	22. Chapter 22

"What the hell are those?" Erlanda asked as they crouched down on the rocks of Gundabad, watching bat creatures fly above them.

"Blood-sucking servants of Melkor. They are bred for war."

The two of them watched as an Orc on a Warg climbed atop a rock nearby. He was as pale as Azog and had multiple pieces of metal in his body. The Orc lifted an arm in which he held a weapon and yelled something in his dark language.

Horns were blown and a giant army started to march out of the stronghold. They were far too much to count and could easily overrun Lake Town and the dwarves of Erebor.

 _"We have to warn the others,"_  Erlanda said, not even noticing how she slipped from the common tongue into elvish.

 _"We may be too late. Hurry!"_   Legolas replied and they climbed down the rocks again, making their way to Legolas' horse.

As they arrived in Dale, the fight had already started and Erlanda used her sword to hack away at Orcs left and right as Legolas led his horse through the city. 

"Gandalf!" Legolas yelled as they stopped in front of the Wizard.

"Legolas," he replied, coming closer, "Legolas Greenleaf." As Legolas got off the horse, Gandalf could also see Erlanda. "And Erlanda, good to see you again."

Erlanda nodded and got off the horse. She gave Bilbo, who had been standing by Gandalf, a weak smile as Legolas immediately came to the point.

"There is a second army. Bolg leads a force of Gundabad Orcs. They are almost upon us."

"Gundabad." Gandalf said in realization, "This was their plan all along. Azog engages our forces, then Bolg sweeps in from the north."

"The North?" Bilbo asked. "Where is the north...exactly?"

"Ravenhill," Gandalf told him.

"Ravenhill? Thorin is up there. And Fili and Kili. They're all up there." 

Erlanda cursed in khuzdul, which she had picked up from Dwalin, "We have to get up there," she told Legolas and made her way to his horse only to see that it was gone. She cursed again and then made her way on foot to the Ravenhill.

Shortly before they arrived, they split up so that they could find the dwarves faster. Erlanda managed to get into one of the tunnels from the outside and quickly found.

"Erlanda?" Kili asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to save your lives," she panted, "It's a trap. We have to get out of here. Where is Fili?"

"We split up, he should be somewhere here." 

The two of them went to look for the blond dwarf. They had looked through the entire path he could have taken and ended up on the opening of the tunnels when they heard an Orc, Azog, speak in their dark language.

They looked up, only to see Fili being held up over the edge of the tower. "Run!" Fili yelled put no one moved. The Orc pierced the prince with his metal hand and let him fall to the ground.

Luckily, Kili and Erlanda were not too far under him and Erlanda managed to catch his falling form. The two of them then carried him outside before Kili ran off to avenge his brother.

"Kili!" Erlanda heard Thorin yell as he ran off to stop Kili and then she heard Dwalin call out Thorin's name to stop their king. Great. 

Nobody had waited to see if Fili was actually dead. Erlanda didn't know why but for some reason, she knew what to do. She held her head over Fili's mouth and nose, pushing away her hair so she could see Fili's chest. 

It did not move. So she laid her hands on his chest and started massaging his heart. It felt like she had sat there for days when he finally gasped and opened his eyes before groaning and holding his chest. 

"I think you broke some ribs."

Erlanda laughed and hugged him before scooting back again as he yelped out in pain. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. she checked over the wound that he was pressing his hand to. "You're lucky, the idiot missed your lungs and heart. you should be fine, just don't do anything stupid," she told him, "speaking of stupid, I got to stop the other Durin's from dying now."

She stood up and helped him back into one of the tunnels. "Try to stay out of the fight. There shouldn't be any orcs over here anymore since they think you're dead." Fili nodded, although he didn't seem happy about the situation and Erlanda ran off to find Kili.

She fought herself through a bunch of orcs with her sword in one hand and her dagger in the other. The bow and arrows on her back remained untouched as she still wasn't sure how to use them.

"Kili!" she yelled as she wasn't able to see him.

"'Landa!" she heard from somewhere above her and made her way towards his voice.

Suddenly, Bolg appeared and she spun around again, clashing blades with him. It seemed to her like a dance, he was using his strength and trying to get a brutal hit on her while she ducked and turned to avoid his blade.

But everyone makes mistakes and sadly, it was Erlanda whose foot slipped as she turned again which caused his blade to hit her shoulder. She yelled in pain but as she sank to the floor, she used her dagger to cut the main blood vessels on the inside of his upper legs. She then tried to roll out of the way as he tumbled for a moment but he managed to balance himself out again, apparently Orc anatomy was different from hers. 

At that moment, Kili jumped from above and onto the Orc's shoulders. He was thrown off but gave erlanda enough time to stand up again. She picked up her sword again and both Kili and her started to fight off the Orc, bringing him closer to the edge with every step.

"By the way," Erlanda panted, as she escaped one of the orc's blows, "Fili is alive."

"What?" he asked while hacking at the orc's stomach but being blocked.

"You...dwarves...have to learn...to be...a bit more....patient." They managed to force the Orc so close to the cliff that he lost his footing and fell down but Erlanda, who hadn't managed to balance herself out in time, fell down with him.

She landed harshly on her back and gasped in pain.

"'Landa!" she heard Kili calling as Bolg came walking towards her again. 

"Go find Thorin!" she yelled. Kili was about to protest but she yelled, "Go, you stubborn dwarf, he's going to get himself killed if he thinks you guys are dead!"

Kili nodded and ran off as the orc came even closer. Erlanda stood up as good as she could. She had dropped her sword but her dagger was still in her hand.

Something crashed onto the ground not too far from them and Erlanda saw that Legolas had crashed a tower to use it as a bridge. It seemed as though the orc was sure that we would win anyway because he turned away from Erlanda and walked towards the blond elf.

He slashed at Legolas but the elf jumped back, turned and attacked. He was blocked but as the Orc swung down to strike him, he easily turned out of the way, making the Orc destroy pieces of the makeshift bridge.

Legolas fell down onto what had been the other side of the tower and the Orc followed him, making it impossible for Erlanda to see what was going on. She decided that this was as good of a moment to try her archery skills than any other. Well, she could think of better moments when for instance her shoulder wasn't feeling like an inferno was burning through it but nonetheless she pulled her bow from her back and set an arrow into it.

Erlanda waited until the orc and Legolas came up again but now Legolas had his back to her which meant that it was maybe not a good idea to shoot. The two on the bridge kept fighting until the Orc managed to throw Legolas to the ground. Erlanda used that moment to fire a shot. 

She did not manage to hit her target but the arrow sliced open some skin on the Orc's shoulder, distracting him when another body came falling down onto the bridge. 

The orc stumbled down and again Erlanda could not see what happened but then she followed Legolas' gaze and saw that Thorin was about to follow the previously fallen Orc. Legolas looked at the King under the mountain as another Orc came closer, about to slay him so the elf threw his sword.

Orcrist hit his mark right in the chest of the Orc. Then, Erlanda's attention was drawn back to Legolas as the orc jumped up from under the bridge again making Legolas pull out his two daggers.

As the Orc managed to get Legolas into the lower part of the bridge again, Erlanda fired another arrow. It hit him in the arm as he threw a boulder at the spot where the elf had gone down. The Orc pulled his arm back but he had already thrown the boulder.

He turned around and walked towards Erlanda as she readied her bow again. She aimed for the bit of skin on his chest that was not protected but missed and hit his armour instead. Legolas then jumped onto the Orc from behind, landing elegantly on his shoulders before driving one of his daggers into the Orc's skull.

With another jump, in which he spun around himself a few times, he landed on the steady floor before the bridge finally fell to the ground.

Legolas turned around to Erlanda who was still holding the bow in her hand. "You really need to practice again," he told her.

She gave him a weak smile as she collected her dagger and put it in its scabbard at her hip. "Will do. As soon as all this is over."

The two of them climbed up again to where she had fallen off in the first place and she picked up her sword from where it had fallen. "What will you do now?" he asked her.

"There's a dwarven prince whose rips I broke," she told him, gesturing towards the tower. "Maybe I should check on him."

"That's not what I meant," he told her. 

"I know," she sighed, "I'm not sure what I'll do now but that is a start. You said I was or still am a healer. Maybe I can help."

Legolas bowed his head,  _"Na lû e-govaned vîn"_

Edith repeated his actions,  _"Na lû e-govaned vîn"_


	23. Chapter 23

Erlanda found Fili again and together they found where Kili and Thorin were. They were both beaten up badly but very much alive.

They watched as the Eagles destroyed the last survivors of the Orc Armies and as Erlanda slowly calmed down again she could feel all the other scratches she had gotten in her fight, aside from the searing pain in her shoulder.

Then they made their way back to Erebor and after the mourning ceremonies for the fallen soldiers were over, Bilbo, Balin, and Erlanda made their way outside.

"There will be a great feat tonight," Balin told them, "Songs will be sung, tales will be told and we will celebrate that we survived this battle."

Erlanda laughed, "From what I've heard, I do not think Bilbo is up for a dwarf feast," she joked.

"We'll slip away quietly," Bilbo agreed. "Erlanda wants to accompany me on my journey home," he then explained to the dwarf.

Erlanda nodded, "I want to see the place he talks so fondly off. Then I will return if you want me here."

"'Course we do, lass." a ruff voice behind her said. 

Bilbo and Erlanda turned around and saw the dwarves.

"Yes," Kili agreed, "What if need someone to break ribs again?" he joked.

Erlanda nodded, laughing, "Then I shall return again."

"And if you ever pass by again," Bilbo said, "...Tea is at four. There's plenty of it. You are welcome anytime." the dwarves bowed their heads in farewell, "Uh, don't bother knocking." the dwarves chuckled.

Bilbo and Erlanda then made their way towards Gandalf. The three of them journeyed all the way back from where they had come but this time they did not get chased by orcs, they did not visit any goblins and they did not encounter any trolls.

The way back was slower than the way to the mountain but neither of them minded as they rode across fields and told each other stories.

"Ah, the borders of the Shire," Gandalf said so much later, "It is here I must leave you."

"That's a shame," Bilbo spoke, "I quite liked having a Wizard around. Seems they bring good luck."

"You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes... were managed by mere luck? Magic rings should not be used lightly, Bilbo," as Bilbo opened his mouth to protest, Gandalf continued, "I know you found one in the Goblin tunnels. And I kept my eyes on you... ever since." 

"Well, thank goodness," he stretched out a hand, "Farewell, Gandalf."

"Farewell," after shaking hands with the Hobbit, Gandalf turned to Erlanda. He bowed his had as a goodbye, "I have the feeling we will meet again, not too soon but soon enough."

She nodded with a smile and then she made her way into the shire with Bilbo. She heard the Hobbit turn around once more to say something to the Wizard before the two of them made their way to Baggs End.

There she spent some weeks in which she learned about the Hobbits and their way of life before she returned to Erebor. She stayed there only for a few weeks when she decided to travel to Rivendell to read the old scripts and find out more about the art of healing.

She spent ten years in Rivendell, not ageing at all, before starting to travel again, along with new found family, though she knew that Bilbo and the Dwarves of Erebor would always be her family.

It was then, sometime after it had been nearly seventy-seven years after her journey with the dwarves that she was called to a meeting in Rivendell, regarding a very special ring but that is a story for another time.

 


End file.
